Illusionist of Emptiness
by touhoumanic
Summary: There is something inside Kukyo Sainan. Something that he wishes with all his heart to disappear. When his mentor's last message brought him to Gensokyo, he will search for a way to rid himself of his curse in this new, magical land. Will he find what he's looking for?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello all, touhoumanic here with my first Touhou fic. Hopefully you all enjoy and please, feel free to rate and review.

Also, many thanks to Spaztique for letting me bounce ideas off of him.

and, even though ZUN probably won't care about what some kid in America wrote, let me cover myself anyway by saying that I do not own Touhou Project.

I'll stop talking now and let the story actually start.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Would you like a flower, little lady?"

The raven-haired young man snapped his gloved fingers and a rose appeared in his hand. The little girl, one of the audiences in his street-corner magic show, squealed with delight, and he gave the rose to her. Her mother chuckled, and some of those in the audience clapped.

The young man's figure was nothing short of comical, even if he did look the part, wearing a black–and–white suit, top hat, and red cape. He lifted an eyebrow. "Ah, but I mustn't forget about the rest of my audience, huh? Well, let's see…" furrowing his brow, he theatrically clapped twice, pausing for dramatic effect before bringing his hands together one last time. The audience collectively gasped as roses appeared at their feet, seemingly out of nowhere. The applause that followed this time was even louder than before.

He bowed. "Thank you, thank you," he said, taking off his hat and passing it around to the audience, a look of satisfaction on his face as he saw spare change pouring into it. When he finally received the hat again, he flicked it a few times with his fingers before flipping it over, revealing that it was now empty. Again the audience applauded, and with a final flourish he flipped the hat back on top of his head. "Well folks, thank you for your attention. You were a great audience. Adieu!"

With that final farewell, he again clapped his hands, this time creating a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, he was no longer there.

The audience stood there, dumbfounded for a moment. Then they gave yet another round of applause until it became clear that the young man had no inclination of reappearing before them. Slightly disappointed, the crowd slowly dispersed, back to their affairs before the street performance caught their eyes.

* * *

The young man emerged from a restaurant nearby a short while later. Using all of the money he had earned a few minutes ago, bolstered by the money from his previous five performances, he had managed to order for himself a decent meal, something he had not had for a while. He rummaged around in his coat pocket, pulled out a black notebook and flipped through it. Most of the pages were filled with small, neat handwriting, depicting detailed instructions on how to perform various spells. He skipped through these, having already committed them to heart, and instead skipped to the last page, which, unlike the other entries, were written hastily.

_Kukyo, seek out the Hakurei Shrine. _

The note was addressed to him. It was the final entry of his mentor. The Hakurei Shrine in question was a shrine she had often told him about in one of her fairy tales; a shrine on the border of another world, where youkai and fairies abound. He had believed it in his early days, but that belief had faded over the years as he matured. Still, he would sit and listen every time his mentor would talk about the fairy tale, for he knew that that was one of her ways to reassure him, give him hope, take his mind away from the thing inside him that had taken everything away from him. So he was surprised at first when he read the note. But, considering the circumstances, he couldn't simply ignore it. He had spent the past week wandering around, trying to gather information on the location of the shrine, which eventually led him to this town. Another quick inquiry of the locals told him that the shrine does exist, somewhere a bit away from the town to the west. If he started on foot now, he should arrive there at around midday.

With that in mind, he started walking.

* * *

Kukyo gazed at the entrance of the shrine, partially hidden in the trees. It was slightly disappointing; far from even the outskirts of the town, the shrine stood amidst the trees of a forest, unkempt and abandoned. It was a wonder that anyone in the town even knew of the shrine's existence. With a sigh, he reached out, attempting to brush the dust off of the shrine's sign.

He was more than surprised his hand touched something solid amidst thin air.

Reflexively, he snapped his hand back. A moment later, he gingerly reached out again, and felt his pulse quickening as the air his fingers touched rippled like the surface of water, and felt as solid as glass. He knew what it was; his mentor had mentioned it numerous times in her fairy tale. It was the barrier separating that magical world from the human world. Suddenly, the fairy tale felt very real, right on the other side.

He closed his eyes and steeled himself, splaying his hand on the surface once again. Slowly, carefully, he pushed it in. He winced when he saw his arm disappear in front of his eyes, but he continued nonetheless. Finally the resistance was gone, and he fell through. For a second, he felt an odd sensation of weightlessness surround him, and his vision blurred.

The feeling disappeared as quickly as it came, and he barely managed to catch himself as he stumbled forward. He rubbed his head, looking around to re-orient himself, and what he saw made him pause. Where there were buildings before, now there were only trees. The shrine itself had lost its disheveled appearance, and looked more like a proper shrine. Even the air itself was different; fresher, devoid of the pollution of the city. Slowly, he entered the shrine grounds.

* * *

Reimu sighed, sipping her tea.

Boredom had once again set in. Marisa had not come by in a few days, and it had been a while since the last incident. Not that she was particularly complaining about the last part; she had always found incident resolution quite tedious. Still, the sense of boredom today was just too much.

"Maybe someone will come and donate," she mumbled absentmindedly. Of course, that was less likely to happen than another incident. After all, the last time someone donated to the shrine was – well, she couldn't remember if someone had _ever _donated to the shrine. Reimu sighed again, expecting another boring day.

That was when she heard an unfamiliar sound coming from the front of the shrine. It took her a moment to realize what the sound was; the sound of small pieces of metal hitting wood.

Someone had just donated.

Reimu nearly dropped her mug. She immediately ran to the entrance, wanting to confirm things with her own eyes. What she saw was a young man his hands open over the donation box. He blinked when he saw her, surprised by her sudden appearance. He then smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, was I not supposed to do that?" he asked. "It wasn't a lot, but the box was empty, so I thought you might need it."

"No, no, it's fine," Reimu said hastily before clearing her throat and adopting a calmer pose. "Welcome, I'm Reimu Hakurei, the shrine maiden of this shrine," she said.

The young man tipped his hat. "I'm Kukyo Sainan, a travelling magician of sorts. Nice to meet you, Miss Hakurei."

"Just Reimu is fine." Reimu said. "A travelling magician, is it? I'm afraid I've never heard of you before. What business do you have with the shrine?"

"Well, I was hoping to get some sort of directions," he said. "I'm afraid I'm not from around here."

"Oh… another Outsider, I see," Reimu said, her face growing more concerned. "Well… why don't you come inside? I can provide a bit of an explanation as to where you are."

Kukyo smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate it," he said smoothly.

* * *

Kukyo listened politely as Reimu started to explain the nature of this world to him. Most of what she said reinforced what his mentor had told him about this place. Finally, Reimu finished her explanation.

"I know it's a lot to swallow for an Outsider, but did you get all that?" Reimu asked. From the expression on her face, Kukyo could tell she was expecting him to deny what she said or have some sort of breakdown; clearly her explanations did not go well with other "Outsiders."

For a second, Kukyo thought of doing the same, if only to tease her, but decided that it wasn't to his best interest. So instead he picked up the mug of tea that Reimu had offered and calmly drank from it. "Perfectly," he said after putting the mug down. "It's not that hard to believe, really. After all, I've had my fair share of magic." To prove his point, Kukyo snapped his finger and produced a playing card out of thin air.

"Oh. Well, that's easy," Reimu said, clearly relieved by the fact she didn't have to deal with another person flipping out on her. "That is quite a surprise. I would have thought that the outside world stopped believing in magic some time ago."

"They did, for the most part," Kukyo answered. "Most magicians on the outside rely more on tricks or sleight of hand than actual magic. I just happen to be fortunate enough to meet with an actual one," he said. That wasn't exactly the truth, of course, but it was the closest he was willing to give at the moment; after all, he had only just met Reimu. He couldn't simply divulge everything to her yet.

"Well then, Kukyo, what do you plan on doing now?" Reimu asked him. "If you want, I can escort you back through the barrier."

Kukyo rubbed his chin. "Well, actually, I was thinking that it'd be nice to explore here a bit. Maybe learn something new. After all, from what you said, there are other magicians here, right? " Again, that was not the exact truth, but it was close enough. He had to resist stating that he had nowhere to return to anyway.

"Well, alright then." Reimu moved further into the shrine, as if to search for something. She returned with a piece of paper in her hand. "In that case, it would be a good idea if you read this."

"What is it?" Kukyo asked, taking the paper.

"You could say they're like the rules around here," Reimu said, "Invoke it if you feel like you're in danger; it could save your life. Assuming you manage to create a spell card, of course."

"I see…" Kukyo said as he read through the contents before tucking it into his coat. "Well, I shouldn't overstay my welcome." He moved to exit the shrine.

"No problem," Reimu said, moving to escort him out. "If you follow the path from the shrine, you'll eventually come across the Human Village. I would recommend going there first, at least until you get your bearings around here." She looked up at the sky. "There's plenty of daylight left, so it should be a relatively safe trek."

"Thanks," Kukyo said, tipping his hat. With that gesture of farewell, he headed out of the shrine grounds, following the narrow path.

For now, he would follow Reimu's advice and head for the village. Hopefully he would get a bit more information there on who's exactly capable of what around here. With any luck, he might even meet someone with the power he's looking for.

He paused for a moment and lifted his hand up towards the sky, examining the black "glove" over his hand, and the faint runes that outline it; his mentor's final gift to him.

He clenched his fist. He won't waste her efforts.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

Kukyo sat patiently, waiting for his host.

He had arrived in the village a short while ago, having followed the relatively straight road from the Shrine. He then went to the first villager he came across and, after a few minutes of conversation, was directed to this house, where he was greeted by some servants of the house and led to this room.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," someone finally said before entering the room. It was a girl around his age, with purple hair and eyes, wearing a yellow flower-patterned kimono and a green vest. "My name is Akyuu Hieda."

Kukyo tipped his hat. "Kukyo Sainan. Nice to meet you Miss Hieda."

Akyuu sat down opposite of him. "Well then Kukyo, how can I help you?"

"Well, I was told to come here by one of the villagers." he said, "They told me you're the person to talk to if I want to get to know Gensokyo."

Akyuu raised an eyebrow. "Are you perhaps an Outsider?" she asked him.

"Yes, I am," Kukyo answered. "I figured if I want to stay, I should probably learn about this place more."

"I see…" Akyuu said, "Well, I can certainly help you in that case." Akyuu said. "But I must ask; are you absolutely certain of your decision to stay?"

"Of course." Kukyo answered, "Why?"

"Well, to be perfectly frank, Outsiders generally do not fare well here." Akyuu said simply. From the tone of her voice and her expression, Kukyo knew that the statement was not a threat, but an earnest warning.

He merely smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." He said politely.

Akyuu studied his expression for a moment before sighing. "Very well then," she said as she stood up. "If you want to learn about Gensokyo, you certainly came to the right place. If you'll follow me, I can show you the Gensokyo Chronicle. It should satisfy whatever questions you may have about Gensokyo."

"Thank you," Kukyo said, following her.

* * *

"_Alright, Kukyo. Dazzle me." She said._

_Nervously, he splayed his small hand and furrowed his brow, concentrating. Slowly, the form of a card appeared in front of his hand. Before it could fully materialize, though, the strain became too much, and the outline disappeared._

_She wiggled her finger. "No, no, that's not quite right," she said. "You're using up way too much energy to do it. A drop, Kukyo, that's all you need. Use it as a catalyst. Let the energy in the air form themselves." So saying, she snapped, and a card materialized with ease. "See?"_

_Kukyo pouted. "It's not fair. You make it look easy," he said._

"_Well of course, I've had a long time to practice, whereas you've just learned the basics. I'm surprised you even managed to do this much in a year. And at your age, too! Just keep at it, alright?" she said with a smile so bright he couldn't help but smile back and nod. "Alright then, let's try it again. Dazzle me, Kukyo."_

Kukyo's eyes snapped open and he jumped up, disturbing the table he had rested his head on and letting some pieces of paper fall to the floor. It took him a moment to remember where he was before he sighed and gathered the papers he dropped and took a moment to sort them out. These were parts of Akyuu's chronicles, and he already promised her he would take care as he examined them. Already, he kicked himself mentally for falling asleep as he did.

After Akyuu had showed him the chronicles, he asked her if he could have some time to study them, to which she consented. He had spent well into the night going over the documents, reading them slowly so he wouldn't miss any detail which could become useful. He had not planned to fall asleep as he did.

He rubbed his temple, the memory heavy in his mind. It was a scene from such a long time ago, but remembering it reminded him of what had happened to his mentor. He needed some fresh air. Sighing, he noiselessly stood up and exited the room. From the darkness and silence, he could tell that it was still night. He cautiously moved through the halls, careful not to wake anyone, until he came to the courtyard he passed as Akyuu had led him in. There, he stood, taking in the cool night air and trying to force his mentor's grinning face out of his mind. Her words still echoed in his mind.

_Dazzle me, Kukyo._

Unable to control himself, he snapped his finger, materializing a card in front of him. He then snapped again and again until his fingers throbbed. The air around him was filled with cards, and so cold he could see his staggered breathing. "How was that?" he asked the night.

Of course, no one answered.

Sighing again, he flicked his wrist, making the cards disappear and returning the energy to the air. Then he turned around and returned to the room, picking up the papers again, returned to reading them under the candlelight.

* * *

"Are you finished with the Chronicles?" Akyuu asked him the next morning as he prepared to leave. Kukyo smiled and bowed.

"Yes. Thank you for letting me see them," he said. "They helped considerably."

"No problem," She said. "What do you plan on doing now, if I might ask?"

Kukyo smiled. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe just wander around a bit and see things. That's what I did on the Outside World, anyway. And there are a lot of interesting places that I read of from your records." He answered.

"I see…" Akyuu said. Kukyo could tell the answer was not a good one for her, but thankfully she refrained from voicing out her concerns. So he tipped his hat as a farewell.

"See you, then," he said before walking out of the house.

As Kukyo navigated his way through the streets of the Human Village, he mulled over how to proceed next. Thanks to the Chronicles, he had determined a good place to go to start; the Scarlet Devil Mansion, where a library filled with magic grimoires is said to be located. One of those could possibly hold the answer to his problem. The trick is finding a way to get himself into the mansion. From what he read, it would not be a smart idea to simply show up in the front gates asking for entry.

As he was thinking of his options, Kukyo was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice a girl carrying towering bags exiting one of the stores. They collided, the bags dropping from her arms. Before they could hit the ground, though, Kukyo managed to scramble and catch a few.

"Sorry, my fault," Kukyo said as he handed the bags back to the girl. She wore a maid's outfit and had silver hair, and for some reason, she looked very familiar, though Kukyo knew this was the first time they met.

"It's alright," she said before going on her way, leaving him there pondering. As he did, he noticed one small bag that he had missed left on the ground.

"Hey, you forgot – " he began, turning around to call the girl. She was no longer there, however, leaving him baffled. "Strange… where have I seen her before…" he murmured, picking up the bag.

And then it clicked. It was on one of the entries in the Chronicles. Sakuya Izayoi, the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

He looked down at the bag in his hand and smiled. Looks like he found the answer to his dilemma.

* * *

Sakuya performed her morning duties that day with a bemused expression.

She had discovered when she returned from her shopping that one of her bags was missing, no doubt dropped when she collided with that boy in front of the shop. By the time she realized it was missing, she was already at the mansion, and the bag would most likely be gone by the time she returned to the village, even if she used her powers. There was no choice but to make do with what she had, though the Mistress might be displeased.

She continued on with her duties and, having finished cleaning the inner rooms, moved to wipe the outer windows. As she did so, however, she noticed someone in front of the gates, talking, it appeared, to Meiling. "Is that…" she said with a hint of recognition.

It was the boy she had collided with back at the Human Village. And in his hand, the bag she had forgotten.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well, this is my longest chapter yet. Enjoy!

Captain Senshi: Thanks, hopefully more reviews will come as I write more.

Sekishiki: Glad to hear that. And yes, the SDM. I have plans for him there :)

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

"Here is your tea," the maid, Sakuya, said as she suddenly appeared in front of him, putting down a saucer with a cup of tea.

"Thank you," Kukyo said, picking up the cup. "Sorry to impose. It was a longer walk than I expected."

"No need to mention it," Sakuya said, "Consider it thanks for delivering that bag here."

"Well, it was my fault in the first place. It's the least I can do," Kukyo said as he sipped the tea, thinking about what to say next.

For the most part, things have gone pretty smoothly. He had managed to find the mansion without too much trouble, thanks to Akyuu's chronicles, and as he was talking to the gatekeeper, Sakuya appeared, graciously taking the bag. A simple request for a drink later, and he was inside. Now the only thing to do is find a way into the library.

As he picked his brain, though, someone said from behind him, "Well, Sakuya, who do we have here?" Kukyo turned his head to look towards the voice and saw a blue-haired girl in a pink dress with bat wings protruding from her back.

Sakuya bowed respectfully to the girl. "Mistress, this person came from the village to return something I forgot," she said.

"Forgetting something? That's not like you, Sakuya," the girl teased.

"Ah, actually, I'm the one at fault there. I bumped into her while I wasn't paying attention and she dropped something by accident," Kukyo said.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" she said before smiling knowingly. "...You don't smell like someone from the village."

"That's right, I suppose," Kukyo said as he stood up and bowed. "My name is Kukyo Sainan. I'm a wandering magician from the Outside World."

"An Outsider, huh? Interesting," the girl said, moving to the other side of the table. "Well then, Boy, do you know who I am?"

Kukyo didn't bat an eye. "Remilia Scarlet, the Scarlet Devil, mistress of this mansion," he said, quoting from Akyuu's notes. "Which, if I may add, is quite splendid."

"Thank you for that," Remilia said as she sat down. "Sakuya, give me the usual," she said.

Sakuya promptly nodded, disappeared, and reappeared the next second with another cup which she smoothly put in front of Remilia. "Anything else, Mistress?" she asked.

"No, that's alright." Remilia said. "Sakuya, why don't you go on with your duties?"

Sakuya paused for a moment, glancing at Kukyo's direction. Then she bowed and disappeared, leaving him alone with Remilia, who took her time stirring her tea and taking sips from it.

Kukyo could barely contain his nervousness. He couldn't afford to let his guard down. This was the best opportunity for him to ask about the library, but one misstep, and he would be done for. One look was all he needed to know that he would stand no chance against Remilia should things turn for the worse.

"if you don't mind me asking," Remilia said after a while. "You said you are an Outsider?"

"Yes. This is only my second day here," Kukyo answered. "Why?"

"No reason," Remilia said, "I just find it odd. You are notl like the villagers, but you're certainly not the average Outsider."

"Well, I told you, I'm a magician." Kukyo answered.

"True, true. That makes it even more interesting though," Remilia said. "I thought magic is extinct in the outside world."

"Well, you could say that," Kukyo said. "No one out there truly believes in magic any more. They think that everything's a trick. And most magicians out there nowadays do rely on tricks and sleight of hand."

"But not you?" Remilia asked, her mouth twisted into an amused smile.

Kukyo returned the smile, not taking the bait. "Not me," he answered, "I was fortunate enough to find a true magician as a teacher. Though, of course, that's not to say I don't know how to perform tricks myself."

"I see. Well, how very fortunate of you," Remilia said, leaning on the table. "So I suppose that is why I smell blood from you?"

Kukyo stiffened. "Pardon?"

"Blood. It's faint, but I can certainly smell it. Not fresh either." Remilia smiled wickedly. "Tell me, Boy, why do you have blood on your hands?"

Kukyo clenched his fists. The question took him completely by surprise, and he couldn't find a way to answer. Remilia, however, merely laughed.

"Some sort of secret, eh? Oh well, I suppose everyone is entitled to their own," she said, taking another sip of her tea. "So, Boy? Why did you come here?"

"I'm sorry?" Kukyo said, still trying to regain his composure.

Remilia sighed. "Come now, spare me the act, Boy. You expect me to believe that you, an Outsider, made the trip all the way from the human village to here simply to return something Sakuya dropped? You don't come across as the stupid type, not when you've shown that you've done your research."

Kukyo was speechless, unable to reply for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine, fine. You win." he said, throwing his hands up. "I came because I wanted to see your library."

"Any particular reason?" Remilia asked. She chuckled again when he didn't reply. "I see. Something to do with the blood on your hands, eh?"

Kukyo bit his lip, saying nothing.

Remilia stirred her tea with an amused expression. "What to do..." she said idly. "Normally we don't allow anyone into our library... but... " she fixed her crimson eyes squarely at him. "Tell you what, boy, how about we make a bet?"

"A bet?" he asked.

"Yes. Are you familiar with the spell card rules, Boy?" Remilia asked.

"I've read them," Kukyo said, glancing at his coat pocket, where the paper Reimu had given him still remained.

Remilia's smile widened. "Excellent. We'll have a match then. If you win, I'll give you access to our library. How does that sound?"

Kukyo blinked. "A match? Sorry, but I don't have any spellcards," he said.

"Well then, how about a handicap?" Remilia said. "If you manage to hit me directly once, you win. If I hit you three times, I win."

Kukyo thought about it for a moment. "What'll happen if I lose?" he asked carefully.

"Well, I haven't decided yet," Remilia answered. "But don't worry. You won't die. I'll give you my word."

Again, Kukyo took a moment to consider. The ambiguity of the terms worried him, but Remilia seemed sincere when she promised that his life wouldn't be threatened. He couldn't simply let go of this opportunity, especially given the handicap. He finally nodded. "I accept your challenge. Where should we go?"

Remilia's eyes flashed dangerously. "Here is perfectly fine." She answered. Then, without warning, she jumped, clearing the table and grabbing Kukyo's collar, lifting him out of his seat. She then threw him with unbelievable strength, hurling him across the room to hit the far wall.

Kukyo gasped with pain and slid to the floor, barely managing to stay on his feet. As he shook his head to recover, he heard Remilia shouting. "Come on, boy, don't just stand there." He looked up, only to see a giant scarlet orb speeding towards him. He dived just in time, though the orb still managed to hit his left shoulder, sending a wave of pain through his arm.

"That's one," Remilia said gleefully.

"Are you serious!?"Kukyo exclaimed incredulously. "There's no way I won't die from something like this!"

"You won't. I already gave you my word. But I never said it wouldn't hurt. Besides, if you feel like this is too much, you can always surrender," Remilia said gleefully. She was now in the air, and as she said that, she threw another volley of orbs at him. Kukyo quickly jumped from side to side, narrowly dodging the orbs, trying to edge away from the wall to make more room for himself.

Remilia continued the onslaught, sailing in the air. "Come, boy, aren't you a magician? Show me some magic. Or were you merely bluffing?"she taunted.

Kukyo bit his lip. That was clearly a challenge, but, given the situation, he had no choice but to oblige. After dodging the next volley, he pivoted on his heels, snapped his fingers to materialize a card, and threw it using the momentum of his spin. The card cut through the air, but Remilia was too fast, and she easily dodged it. He tried a few more times, but every time the cards fell short of their mark.

"Is that all Boy? You'll never hit me with those," Remilia said.

"Then how about this?" Kukyo said, focusing on the air next to Remilia and snapping his fingers, creating a card there. Remilia was caught by surprise, and changed her trajectory to dodge, only to find another card in her path. She shot at it, creating a small explosion as the orb's energy clashed with the card's. She emerged from the cloud, unharmed.

"I see. So, you can manipulate energy, eh? Not a bad trick, boy." she said, whipping out a card. "But not good enough." she raised the card in the air, declaring, "Scarlet Sign, "Scarlet Shoot!""

Kukyo could physically feel the burst of energy suddenly released as the card glowed and disappeared. With a devilish grin, Remilia splayed her hands in his direction, releasing a wave of the scarlet orbs. Unlike the last times, there were more of them in all directions, and they were faster. Kukyo scrambled to dodge, but the orbs were too fast and too spread out. As he tried to roll out of the way of one, another hit him square on the back, making him cry out in pain.

"That's two," Remilia said. "one more and it's my win. Still feel up to it, Boy?"

Kukyo staggered back to his feet, his breathing labored. "I still have... One more chance..." he said with effort.

"That's the spirit," Remilia said, resuming her spell.

Kukyo knew he couldn't dodge; his feet were about to give out as is. Desperately, he snapped his fingers, materializing cards around him to intercept the orbs. Although that saved him from being hit, the ensuing explosions threw him back to the floor. Groaning, he picked himself back up. This wouldn't work. He needed some way to control the energy of the explosion, or else he would only prolong his defeat.

Then it dawned on him. Why not use the energy himself?

As the next wave came, he closed his eyes, concentrating. Then, at the last moments, he materialized the cards around him again. Before the explosions, though, Kukyo quickly snapped his fingers, harnessing their energy to create his cards. Satisfied that it worked, he quickly flicked his wrist, sending the cards every which way to intercept the remaining orbs. Every time they collided, he used the resulting energy to create even more cards. Soon, the air was filled with them.

"It's... over..." he gasped, nearly buckling from the strain. It had taken nearly all he had to convert all that energy. With the last of his strength, he sent the cards speeding towards Remilia.

Remilia, however, merely hung in the air with a smile. "You're right, Boy. It is," she said, pulling out another spellcard.

"Divine Spear "Spear the Gungnir.""

* * *

Kukyo's eyes snapped open and he sat up, gasping as pain instantly coursed through his body. As he struggled to regain his breath, he weakly took in his surroundings. It was a room, quite nicely furnished, and he was laying on the only bed inside it. He shook his head, trying to recall what had happened. After Remilia declared that spell, a giant spear of light had appeared in her hands and then...

"Right," he murmured, finally remembering. "I lost." The spear had hit him before his cards could reach Remilia, with enough force to instantly knock him unconscious.

There was a knock on the door, followed by Remilia's voice. "Are you awake, Boy?"

"Yes," he answered with some effort. The door swung open, and Remilia walked in.

"Well, I must commend you," she said.

"For losing spectacularly?" Kukyo said with a short, ironic laugh.

"For managing to hit me," Remilia said, ignoring his comment.

"Excuse me?" Kukyo said.

"Indeed. Even after you fell unconscious, your cards kept going. It was a narrow thing, but one did manage to graze my wing." Remilia explained. "Of course, I landed my third hit first, so it was still my victory. But you came closer than I ever expected." She then stood up. "Now then, there is the matter of my prize. You will honor our deal, right?"

Kukyo sighed. "Do I really have a choice?" he said. "Well, what is it then? My blood?" he asked.

"Not quite." Remilia said, walking around the bed slowly. "Is this room to your liking, Boy?"

"Well, it's a nice room. But why does that matter?" Kukyo asked.

"It matters because from now on this will be your room."

Kukyo blinked, confused. "What?"

"Do I need to spell it out?" Remilia said with a sigh. "From now on, you shall be a servant in this mansion. Is that clear? Answer me, Boy."

Kukyo, who had been left speechless by that statement, finally managed to say, "I don't understand. Why?"

"You interest me, that's all. And Sakuya could use the help," Remilia explained simply. "And you said so yourself; you have no choice in this matter. Unless you prefer to try your luck again..." Remilia held up her hand, which now held a spellcard. "Of course, this time, do not expect me to hold back. What do you say?"

Kukyo eyed the spellcard, which have started to glow faintly, before sighing. "Will I have to wear a uniform?" he asked, smiling resignedly.

Remilia simply chuckled. "You can wear whatever you want, Boy." she said as she made her way to the door. "You will start tomorrow. Sakuya will show you the ropes. Understand?"

Kukyo bowed his head. "Yes, Mistress Scarlet." he answered. As Remilia exited the room, he laid back down and sighed.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well, sorry for the long wait. I had some personal issues, but still, that's really no excuse. Thankfully, all of that should be sorted out, and hopefully I'll be able to focus more on this.

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

_Kukyo frowned as he continued to wash the mountain of plates in front of him. "I don't understand why we have to do this," he grumbled._

_His mentor chuckled. "Well, you were the one that insisted on ordering that second serving. I told you we wouldn't have enough money. Just be glad the owner let us work the debt off instead of calling the cops on us," she said before continuing to tackle her own pile, humming a cheerful tune._

_"But you're a magician. I don't see why we can't just make our own money. I mean, it shouldn't be much harder than making cards.""_

_"Kukyo?" his mentor said, cutting him off. He turned his head to answer her, only to be flicked on the forehead by a soapy finger. He exclaimed in shock and took a step back, rubbing his forehead._

_"What was that for?" he asked._

_"For speaking nonsense. Magic's not the answer to all your problems, Kukyo, and don't treat it like it is." she said with a sterner voice than he was accustomed to._

_"A-alright," he said hastily._

_His mentor continued. "And don't ever show me that attitude ever again, alright? You'll never learn if you always try to take the easy way out. You ate the food, you pay for it. Take responsibility for your actions." she paused, and he could see a faraway look in her eyes before she continued with a softer tone. "Believe me, it'll be worse if you don't..."_

Kukyo exclaimed as he was suddenly thrown out of the dream as well as the bed. Picking himself up from the floor, he shook his head, trying to regain his bearings. Before he could, though, his collar was yanked up and he was literally dragged away.

"Pardon me," a voice said to him, "it's time to start working." It took him a moment to realize it was Sakuya's voice, and as he shifted his position he could see that she was the one dragging him.

"E-Excuse me, Miss Izayoi, but I can walk," he said.

"Don't struggle. We're late as is." Sakuya replied.

When Sakuya finally let him go, they stood in one of the hallways of the mansion. Sakuya then handed him a mop and a bucket. "Here, this will be your first task."

Kukyo took the mop with one hand, massaging his sore collar with the other. "So... is this it? Mopping the floor?"

"For now," Sakuya said. "Please finish within the hour."

"You're giving me an hour to mop this entire hallway?" Kukyo asked, looking at the hallway doubtfully. Even though it was big, an hour seemed like an excessive amount of time.

"No, I'm giving you an hour to mop the entire mansion." Sakuya corrected. "You'll simply start here."

"What!?" Kukyo said. "Isn't that a bit... unreasonable?" he asked.

Sakuya's expression did not change. "You are now a servant of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Doing this much should be expected." She turned around as if to leave. "I suggest you start right away. If you don't finish on time, you'll have to continue on into your breakfast time."

With that, she disappeared, leaving Kukyo with the mop and bucket on the floor.

Kukyo stood there for a moment, staring into the empty air before sighing and starting the job.

* * *

That evening, Sakuya poured Remilia her evening tea and dutifully waited as her mistress slowly took her drink.

"Excellent as always, Sakuya," Remilia noted.

"Thank you, Mistress," Sakuya said respectfully.

Remilia leaned back on her chair. "I noticed that the boy was absent during lunch today. Is he still cleaning the mansion?"

"Yes, Mistress. He finally finished with the floor sometime after noon. I've instructed him to clean the windows, and it doesn't appear that he's finished with that yet." Sakuya answered.

"I see," Remilia said with an amused look.

"If I may be frank, Mistress, I cannot see the merit of having him here. His skills at housework is lackluster at best." Sakuya said after a pause.

Remilia chuckled. "Funny you should mention that. I seem to recall a certain someone being less than perfect herself when she started out as well."

Sakuya reddened ever so slightly. "That was a long time ago, Mistress. I'm not sure how it's relevant now."

Remilia chuckled. "If you say so, Sakuya. That'll be all for now," she said to Sakuya's relief. Regaining her composure, Sakuya bowed and left, moving to see if the boy had finally had it. For despite her Mistress's easiness with the matter, she still disliked the situation. Hopefully, the work she had been giving him was hard enough to drive him away. She finally found him in the middle of wiping one of the windows near the entrance.

"How many have you finished?" she asked him with an even tone. To her surprise, he turned to her with a polite smile on his face.

"I'm halfway done, Miss Izayoi. At least, I think I am. Not really sure how many more windows are in the mansion," he said with a light tone.

Sakuya was taken aback, but managed to keep her expression neutral. "Alright then. Make sure you finish all the rest." she said.

"I will," he said before returning to the job.

Sakuya watched him proceed for a few moments before walking away. He had more endurance than she thought. No matter, though, another day or so should be enough to drive him off.

* * *

"How?"

Kukyo looked behind him towards Sakuya, who had a confused expression on her face. He put on a smile, "Miss Izayoi, is there a problem?"

"That. That is the problem." Sakuya said. "How could you still be able to say that even when you can barely hold up that mop?"

Two days had passed, and the grueling work was getting to his body; his arms were shaking just from trying to keep the mop steady, and his face was pale. But still, he continued to put on that naive smile.

"Right. Sorry, Miss Izayoi, I'm just a bit tired is all," he said.

Sakuya gave him an incredulous look. There was no way he would still have that expression even if he was incredibly naive. It was as if he was doing it on purpose.

Then it finally clicked.

Sakuya studied his expression for a few more moments before asking. "...How long have you known?" She didn't say anything else, but he understood the meaning of the question.

"That you didn't want me here? From the first day, really," he said, his tone loosening. "I know how to read people. Wouldn't've been successful as a performer otherwise."

"You could have said something if you knew." Sakuya said.

"Well, it's not like you weren't justified; I did use you to get into the mansion, after all." Kukyo said. "What could I have said?"

"Apologized, for one." Sakuya pointed out.

"But would you have believed me?" Kukyo asked. He waited for a response, but Sakuya gave him none, so he continued. "Thought so. I figured, the best way to apologize would be to just accept it." He then rubbed the back of his neck. "But I suppose I should still apologize, so..." he bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

Sakuya was baffled, she didn't know quite how to react. After some more silence, Kukyo raised his head, the smile back on his face. "Well Miss Izayoi, I think I've rested enough. I'll return to mopping now," he said, turning to leave.

"... Wait," Sakuya said, stopping him. he turned his head towards her, eyebrow raised in question. Sakuya rubbed her temples and sighed before looking him in the eye.

"Give me an honest answer; are you serious about working here?" she asked him.

Kukyo pondered about it for a moment. "Well, I was serious about the bet I made with your Mistress. And since that's her condition, I'll honor it as best as I could. So, yes, I suppose I am."

Sakuya considered that answer. "... Alright then," she said, taking the mop away from him. "I think that's quite enough of that."

"Are you sure?" Kukyo asked her.

Sakuya nodded. "I believe we've started on the wrong foot. So let us start over."

"Great," Kukyo said, relieved.

"Take the rest of the day and rest up Mr. Sainan. Tomorrow, we will start your real training. There is a lot for you to learn if you truly want to call yourself a servant here." Sakuya said.

"Alright." Kukyo said as he finally let his tired arms drop the mop, "Cause, to be honest, Miss Izayoi, I can barely stand right now."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Alright, and here's chapter 5!

BLKJett: Thank you, I'll do my best. About the pacing, I'll try and work on that.

RandomNumbers523156: Yeah, Kukyo's definitely a fun character to write.

* * *

Chapter 5

* * *

Kukyo rolled out of the way as knives whizzed through the spot he was in. As he recovered, he quickly flicked his wrist, launching a handful of cards in Sakuya's direction. Sakuya gracefully rolled in the air. As she did, Kukyo took that chance to whip out his spellcard.

"Fool's Sign-" he began saying. He never got the chance to finish, though, as knives suddenly sailed through the air before stopping mere inches all around him, pinning him in place. Things stayed like that for a second before Kukyo sighed. "Darn. I thought I had it that time," he said.

Sakuya floated down as the knives around Kukyo disappeared. "You were a bit late on your draw," she said as she handed him a mop. "Well then, as usual, I'll leave this to you."

"Yes, Miss Izayoi," Kukyo said as he started to clean up the mess their training had produced. As usual, all of it came from his cards, exploding at the wrong spots or knocking over some furniture.

"No, use a circular motion for that," Sakuya instructed. He nodded and complied, adjusting his technique.

Sakuya had suggested this method of training a week ago, so that he could learn both how to fend for himself as well as how to be a proper servant. It worked, for the most part; he managed to cut his cleaning time down tremendously, and he even managed to figure out how to create a few spellcards through trial and error. That being said, he still couldn't hold a candle to Sakuya, who soundly beat him every time they sparred.

"Alright, how's that, Miss Izayoi?" he asked when he was finished. Sakuya inspected his work for a second before nodding.

"You didn't miss a single spot. Impressive work, Mr. Sainan," she said.

"Thank you," Kukyo said. "What's next?"

"Well, you've finished with time to spare today. Let's see... I won't need you again for at least another hour." Sakuya said.

"An hour, huh?" Kukyo said. Now that he thought about it, he had never managed to have any free time since he started working. "...Say, Miss Izayoi, would it be possible for me to stop by the library?" he asked tentatively, already trying to think up of a good excuse for him to go there.

"I don't see why not."

Kukyo blinked. "Really?"

Sakuya nodded. "The Mistress never forbid you from going to the library, Mr. Sainan, and you have worked hard the past week." She turned around to leave. "Just make sure you're ready in an hour."

"R-right. Thank you, Miss Izayoi," he said before quickly making his way to the library.

* * *

Kukyo knocked on the doors of the library, waiting nervously for a response. A moment later, a girl with purple hair and a pinkish nightgown opened the door.

Kukyo tipped his hat, trying to quickly connect her appearance with a name. "Good morning, sorry to bother you," he said, trying to buy time before finally remembering the name. "You're Miss Knowledge, right? Patchouli Knowledge?"

"That's right," she said. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Ah, how rude of me. I'm Kukyo Sainan. Mistress Scarlet hired me as a servant here a week ago," he said with a light tone.

Patchouli's eyes lit up with recognition at the name. "Ah. Yes, Remi did talk about you," she said. "To be honest I was wondering when you would show up."

"Well, Miss Izayoi had kept me busy," Kukyo said lightly. "But that makes things easy, then. Would you mind terribly if I look at some books in your library?"

"That depends," Patchouli said. "Mind telling me why?"

Kukyo studied her expression for a bit before taking a deep breath. "Well, I have a... problem, you see, and I don't even know how to begin solving it. I was hoping that I would find the answer here."

Patchouli gave him a doubtful look. "That's a bit vague," she said. "You'll have to be more specific if you expect me to let you in, Mr. Sainan. This isn't a regular library; certain grimoires in here can be quite... dangerous."

Kukyo hesitated. He could try to lie his way in, but as he studied Patchouli's expression again, he simply hung his head. "... I'm sorry, Miss Knowledge, but... I can't say much more than that right now."

"Then I'm afraid I can't help you," Patchouli said, moving to close the library door.

Kukyo bit his lip. "Wait," he said, putting his hand on the door.

Patchouli gave him an irritated look. "What? Look, Mr. Sainan, I'm in the middle of something important, and unless you give me a good reason, I can't let you in my library."

"Look, I understand that you can't let me in. But, at the very least could you..." Kukyo hesitated for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his mentor's book. "Could you at least look at the spells in here and tell me if they look familiar?"

Patchouli tentatively took the book. "What's this?" She asked.

"They're... notes, from my mentor." Kukyo said. "I thought... maybe you'll have something similar to them in the library."

Patchouli flipped through the pages, skimming the contents. "I can't say for sure, Mr. Sainan, I would have to examine these more. But wouldn't it be easier for you to ask your 'mentor' about your problem instead of me?" she asked.

"...I wish I could," Kukyo said, looking away again.

"Oh," Patchouli said with a lower tone. "...Alright, I'll see what I can do. But I'll need the book to do any sort of analysis, Mr. Sainan, and it will take time."

Kukyo again considered this. It was almost time for him to get back to work, and he couldn't wait here for her to finish. On the other hand, it might lead to answers, and he couldn't simply let the opportunity go. "...Alright," he said after a while. "Just... take care of that, alright?"

Patchouli smiled. "You can depend on that, Mr. Sainan. I'll look into this as soon as I can."

Kukyo nodded, clearing his throat. "Well then, I'd best get back to work. I'm sorry to bother you, Miss Knowledge," he said with a bow before leaving the library door.

* * *

"Mr. Sainan, you missed a spot," Sakuya said.

"Huh? Oh, right, sorry," Kukyo said, hastily moving to fix his mistake.

"So, I take it your visit did not end well," Sakuya observed.

Kukyo sighed as he continued his work. "You can say that," he said. "Miss Knowledge won't even let me into the library."

"Well, regardless, try not to let that affect your work, Mr. Sainan," Sakuya advised before disappearing to do her own duties.

Kukyo forced himself to focus on his work despite his apprehension. He wasn't sure exactly what Patchouli would find in her analysis. He could only hope it would be good.

"Well, I finally fin-" he started to say before an explosion startled him, large and close enough to shake the floor. Kukyo leaned his hand against the wall to steady himself. "What was that?" His eyes then widened as he realized something. "That explosion had come from the direction of the library!" he said as he started running in that direction. He arrived at the library doors just as Patchouli walked out, coughing. a trail of smoke emerged from the library with her.

"Miss Knowledge, are you alright? What happened?" Kukyo asked.

Patchouli answered in between coughs. "I'm... fine. But my books..." she scowled. "Damn. And I thought... that new security measure I put in... would stop her this time..."

"Who?" Kukyo asked, confused.

"Marisa. She came in again to steal my books." Patchouli said, looking back into her library. Her breathing had calmed down, but the scowl on her face remained. "Look at all this. And after I finished organizing the books too."

Kukyo peered into the library with her. The first thing he noticed after the sheer amount of books inside was the mess. It was as if a typhoon had came through the library, knocking down shelves of books here and there. And as he looked around, he noticed a gaping hole on a section of the wall, big enough for a person to go through.

Meanwhile, Patchouli was already busy sifting through the books on the ground. "What are you doing, Miss Patchouli?" Kukyo asked.

"I'm trying to see what books were taken this time," she said impatiently. "Let's see..." she quickly went through the all the books before sighing. "Well... at least she didn't take much. So far I'm only missing two books." She rubbed her chin. "Odd. Could have sworn there were at least three in her hand when I found her... What else am I missing..."

A cold chill went up Kukyo's spine. "... Miss Knowledge," he asked in a low voice. "Do you know where my book is?"

"Hm? Oh, sure, I was looking over it. It should be over -" Patchouli began to say, pointing at her desk. She stopped, however, because there was nothing there, confirming Kukyo's fears. "...Oh."

"Miss Knowledge," Kukyo said, trying his hardest to keep his voice even. "Would you mind telling me more about Marisa?"

* * *

"I don't recall giving you any tasks to do outside, Mr. Sainan."

Kukyo stopped, but his hand still touched the half-open mansion doors. "Sorry Miss Izayoi, but I have something urgent to do," he said in a low tone.

"You still have your shift to do," Sakuya continued.

"I know. And I'll finish it when I come back," he said firmly.

"... You won't win against her, you know," Sakuya said. "Not with only two spellcards."

Kukyo was silent for a minute. "I'm not sure what you mean, Miss Izayoi. I'm just going out for some fresh air," he said with a smile.

Sakuya studied his expression before sighing. "Very well then, I'll allow it. Night shift starts at sunset. Be back by then."

"Don't worry, Miss Izayoi, I will be," he said with a chuckle before walking out of the door.

Marisa sped through the air, smiling to herself as she cradled the books she had 'borrowed' from Patchouli in one hand. Today had been a pretty good one; After her visit to Patchouli's library, she had stopped by Reimu's and had her share of tea and dango. Now, she was on her way back to her house to read her spoils.

"Hm? Who could that be?" she remarked to herself, seeing a figure standing in front of her house, as if waiting. It was a young man wearing a battered top hat and a cape, and as she drew closer, he put his hand up as a greeting.

"Ah! You must be Miss Kirisame, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Marisa said, landing in front of him. "Who're you?"

He tipped his hat. "Kukyo Sainan," he said.

"Kukyo, where have I heard that name before..." she said before she remembered. "Oh! Right, you were that Outsider Reimu talked about."

"Oh, Reimu remembered me, did she?" Kukyo said, sounding a bit surprised.

"Yeah, said you were the weird one that didn't flip out on her," Marisa said. "Anyway, what're you doing out here? Need some help or something?"

Kukyo smiled, though the expression didn't reach his eyes. "Well, in a way, I suppose." He looked at the books in her hand. "...Are those the books you stole from Miss Knowledge?"

"From Patchy, you mean? No, I didn't steal them, I'm just borrowing them till I die. Patchy won't mind," Marisa said with an easy tone.

"Yes, well, regardless, I think you've mistakenly... 'borrowed'... my book as well. In fact I can see it right there," he said, pointing to one of the slimmer books in her hand.

"Oh? This is yours?" Marisa asked, lifting the book in question.

"Yes. I merely lent it to Miss Knowledge so that she could examine it, see," he continued, still with that smile. "And although I can't say for her,_ I_ mind a great deal if you 'borrow that book till you die,' so..." he reached out a hand. "If you can just give that book back, I'd appreciate it."

"Sure," Marisa said, "what do you have for it?"

Kukyo chuckled coldly. "Forgive me, I think you misunderstood," he snapped his fingers, making a spellcard appear in his hand. "Is that clear enough for you, Miss Kirisame?"

Marisa looked at him for a moment before chuckling. "I see. Alright then, if you insist. Don't blame me if you get hurt though," she said, whipping out her own spellcard.

_"Magic Sign "Stardust Reverie"!"_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: And... here's chapter 6. This was a bit challenging to write, but I quite liked the result.

RandomNumbers523156: Oh yes, he will definitely have a hard time, but he does have a plan.

* * *

Chapter 6

* * *

A stream of stars spiraled out from Marisa's position, acting in concert, circling around Kukyo. From afar, it must have been quite a stunning sight; stars of all colors dancing in the sky, with Marisa at their center.

Of course, at the moment, Kukyo could care less how stunning they looked.

He inhaled sharply as he barely managed to dodge another star from the stream, wincing at the heat that grazed his shoulder. If he had not been practicing with Sakuya, it would have been over the moment the spiral reached him. Now, the stream was more manageable, and although the openings between the stars were smaller than the ones between Sakuya's knives, he still managed to duck and weave through them, throwing handful of cards at Marisa whenever he got the chance. With her experience, though, he might as well have not thrown them, as she dodged the cards with ease, waiting until the last minute before calmly shifting to the right or left in the air, dodging by an inch.

Kukyo knew he was vastly outmatched. Marisa acted with all the confidence of a veteran, while he barely had a week's worth of practice. Worse yet, he still hadn't learned how to fly yet. The only chance he had would be from the spellcard he held in his hand, and even then, he would need to wait for just the right moment.

"Hey, what're you waiting for?" Marisa asked him from her broom above. "Come on, you were the one that took out your spellcard first. Show me what you've got."

Kukyo ignored her taunt, focusing instead on dodging the stars while keeping his spellcard firmly gripped in one hand, waiting for Marisa's spell to reach its peak.

Finally, when he felt the stars were at their densest, he declared his spellcard.

_"Fool's Sign "Metamorphosis"!"_ He yelled.

The card burned in his hand, and he threw it in the air, where it hung for a moment before bursting into smaller cards which flew into the nearest stars, turning them into more cards and starting the chain reaction. Kukyo watched with satisfaction as his spell worked its magic, converting all of the stars in the vicinity into his cards. It was the same move he had used against Remilia, but more efficient, thanks to the spellcard. Before long, the air around them was littered with cards. Kukyo snapped his fingers, triggering the second phase of the spell, and as one the cards flew in Marisa's direction.

Marisa, however, didn't even flinch; in fact, her grin only grew wider. "Pretty good," she said. She threw the books in her hand to the ground, gripped her broom tightly, and shot forward with a yell, meeting one of the waves of cards head on. She then did a series of lightning fast twists and turns with her broom, fearlessly grazing the cards. In a flash, all the cards were behind her. She then quickly shot upwards, spun in the air, and aimed an octagonal block of wood down at the remaining cards and Kukyo.

_"Love Sign..."_ she started to say as energy started to gather in front of her. _""MASTER SPARK"!"_

A gigantic laser shot out of the block of wood, causing an even more massive explosion when it collided with the airborne cards, the force of which slammed Kukyo into a nearby tree. Fighting back the pain, he picked himself up, and dived behind one of the trees while the smoke from the explosion still lingered. He pressed his back to the trunk, trying to regain his breath.

"Damn," he mumbled to himself. He had wanted to end things with that first spell, but now, it seemed that he would have no choice but to go with plan B. Steeling himself, he turned around just as Marisa shot off another Spark and whipped out his second spellcard.

_"Fool's Sign "House of Mirrors"!"_

What followed after was a chaos of lights and explosions.

* * *

Marisa coughed, steadying herself in the air, trying to figure out what had just happened. She had fired off her master spark, Kukyo had declared his second spellcard, and then suddenly there were lasers everywhere, hitting trees and nearly shooting her out of the sky. She peered into the smoke and saw numerous cards suspended in the air at odd angles from each other. Her Master Spark must have hit the formation and dispersed.

"Boy, nearly hit myself with my own spell. That would've been embarrassing," Marisa remarked, trying to scan the ground for Kukyo, who had disappeared in the chaos. "Nice idea though. How'd you thought it up?"

"Well, you know, a magician never reveals his tricks," Kukyo said, stepping out from behind a closer tree with a confident smile.

"A bit confident, aren't we?" Marisa said.

"Well, we've seen what happened when your huge laser hits my spell. Wouldn't want to burn down the entire forest now, would we?" Kukyo said. "Besides, I can still hit you just fine." So saying, he threw a volley of cards, which bounced off the 'mirrors' in the air unpredictably.

"We'll see," Marisa said, trying to dodge the new volley. However, because of the mirrors, her task was much harder, as cards she thought she had dodged would ricochet back from another angle. Although she could still manage that, it was annoying as she couldn't simply let loose another Master Spark without it reflecting in a thousand different directions before reaching him.

Reaching him...

Marisa grinned again. She knew how to counter this spellcard now.

The next time one of the cards flew close, she let it hit her shoulder. She had been hit by far worse before, but she faked pain and plummeted to the ground. She heard him say "Got you!" down below. But just before she hit the ground, she kicked up again, and used her momentum to launch herself towards his direction, stopping when they were literally face-to-face. Kukyo's face paled when he realized what she just did.

"Can't reflect this up close, can you?" she said, aiming the mini-hakkero at him. He tried to run away, but it was too late, and she unleashed a Master Spark at point-blank range and maintained the blast until the mini-hakkero started overheating.

"Whew! Maybe I overdid it a bit," Marisa remarked after she had finished, juggling the hot mini-hakkero between her hands. There was no sign of Kukyo anymore; in all likelihood, the blast probably sent him to the other side of the forest by now. She waited there for a while to see if he would return, but after a long minute of silence, she shrugged.

"Now let's see, where did I drop those books," she said, scouring the ground for them, finding them dangerously close to the section of the forest she had just blasted. She then turned around and headed into her house, aiming to finally read her spoils.

* * *

"Things didn't go well, I see," Sakuya said when he saw Kukyo enter the mansion. There was dirt and small tree branches stuck to his clothing, as well as cuts on his clothes and and burns on his skin. He also cradled his left arm with his right.

"You can say that, Miss Izayoi," he replied. "But considering how I was shot through the entirety of a forest, I consider myself lucky to still be walking at the moment," he said, remembering how the Master Spark had blasted him all the way through the Forest of Magic. He shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if that laser was meant to kill.

Sakuya did not make a comment, and instead pointed to his left arm. "Let me see that arm." Kukyo complied, and she prodded the arm a couple of times, making him wince. "Well, it's not broken, at least." She bandaged the wounded arm and put it on a sling with such speed that Kukyo could only blink. "There. That should do it." she said when she was finished.

"Thanks," Kukyo said as Sakuya proceeded to take care of his other wounds.

"It's nothing, Mr. Sainan," Sakuya said. "There. You should be alright."

"Yeah..." Kukyo said again. "Well then, I suppose I better get started with those duties I still need to finish. I did promise."

Sakuya paused for a moment. "Are you sure you're alright? You seem awfully cheerful for someone who just lost," she remarked.

Kukyo smiled. "Well, it's true I lost the duel. But I got what I came for, Miss Izayoi," he said, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out three books.

Sakuya's eyes widened. "Is that...?"

"Yup," Kukyo said. "I swapped them when she wasn't looking."

"So, you were aiming to lose?" Sakuya asked.

"Not really, I did try to win," Kukyo explained. "But after she easily beat Metamorphosis, I knew I had no chance. She would have figured out the weakness of my second spellcard pretty quickly. So I had to go with plan B." He rubbed his left arm. "Only wished I didn't have to be blown through a forest to do it. But I was afraid she would have been suspicious if I simply surrendered then."

Sakuya looked at him wordlessly before sighing and shaking her head. "Really, you never cease to amaze me," she said. "Well then Mr. Sainan, in that case, I certainly hope to not hear any complaints from you due to your injuries, considering how you received them on purpose."

Kukyo chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't." He said, "Although I may be a tad slower."

"You better start right away then," Sakuya said with a smile.

Kukyo returned the smile. "Yes Miss Izayoi," he said before starting.

* * *

After finally settling back in her house, Marisa sat down with a sigh, plopping down the books onto her lap. That Outsider had put up a better fight than she had thought. Still had a long way to go, but still, with some more duels under his belt...

She opened up the small book, curious to see what was so important about it, only to be surprised when the book literally popped into cloud of cards. The two other books in her lap also exploded in the same manner.

"Wha- How?" she murmured, picking one of the cards out of the air. It was a joker, with a message written on it.

_Thanks for the books, Miss Kirisame._

She put her hand on her face and laughed. "Can't believe he tricked me like that," she said. She dusted the cards off her lap, making a mental note to let that Outsider eat another Master Spark the next time they meet.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: alright, chapter 7. More than halfway done!

RandomNumbers523156: Thanks, I will, and I'm glad you enjoyed the fight scene. I was kinda worried how that might turn out.

* * *

Chapter 7

* * *

Kukyo knocked on the library door. "Miss Knowledge? Miss Knowledge, I have your books," he said, waiting outside with no reply. He frowned, unsure of what to do. Because of all the work he had piled up due to his injuries, he didn't have the time to stop by the library until right now, and had hung on to the books in the meantime. Sakuya had offered to drop the books off before, but he turned her down since he wanted to hand them to Patchouli himself. He knocked on the door one more time before sighing and carefully entering the library.

"Miss Knowledge? Are you there?" he asked, walking hesitantly into the gloom. He noticed that the damage Marisa had done to the library the other day had been repaired; the hole on the wall was no longer there, and the bookshelves all stood in their neat rows. He wondered faintly how as he continued to look for Patchouli. He finally found her deeper inside, her face buried in a book, with piles of other books and papers scattered around her.

"Miss Knowledge?" he asked, trying to get her attention. She finally noticed him and turned around.

"Oh, it's you." Patchouli said with a slightly displeased tone.

"Yeah. Sorry to barge in, I knocked, but you didn't hear me." he started to say. He then noticed something written on one of the papers on the table. "Hey, that... wasn't that written in my book?"

Patchouli nodded. "I took some notes on spells which interested me before Marisa took the book. I'm comparing them with some of the grimoires in my library," she said before sighing. "Though it's difficult to say anything conclusive without the full book."

Kukyo smiled. "Well then, good thing I managed to get it back, huh?" he said, pulling the books from within his coat, though he paused when Patchouli gave him a surprised look. "What?"

"I just didn't expect you to win against Marisa," Patchouli said.

Kukyo chuckled. "I wish I could say I did, but no, things went exactly how you thought it would, Miss Knowledge. I just managed to snatch these during the battle," he said, placing the books on the table. "I thought Miss Izayoi had already told you."

Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "Did she?" she murmured, rubbing her chin before nodding. "Yes, I remember now. She did say something about it last night, but I was too preoccupied."

Kukyo nodded. "So... have you found anything?" he asked tentatively.

Patchouli shook her head, reaching for his book and flipping through it, talking all the while. "No. As I told you before, I couldn't make any definitive conclusions without the actual book itself, so this should help a great deal."

Kukyo picked up one of the papers on the table and examined it. It was, word for word, an exact copy of what was written in one of the entries in his book. "These are pretty accurate, Miss Knowledge. Why can't you just compare them with what's written in your other grimoires?"

Patchouli scoffed. "You're a magician. You should know why that isn't the case." she said.

"Should I? Sorry, my mentor never told me anything about grimoires." Kukyo said in an apologetic manner.

Patchouli didn't seem to hear what he said, however, as she seemed to have wholly diverted her attention to her work. Occasionally, she would open up another book and hold up Kukyo's side-by-side with it, examining them before shaking her head and moving on to the next one.

Kukyo wanted to stay in the library and watch her, but he knew that his break time was almost up, and he couldn't afford to pile up more work than he already had. So he reluctantly turned around and made his way out of the library, leaving Patchouli to her research.

* * *

Patchouli put another grimoire down. Even with the real book in her hand, her progress was still slow. There was certainly traces of magic left in the book, but the more she examined the spells, the more baffled she became. They weren't structured like any spell she knew. In fact, the more she analyzed them, the more certain she became that they weren't spells at all. However, that still doesn't explain the traces of magic on the book.

Unless... What if the 'spells' that were written here were simply covering for something else?

She started to examine the book closer, and felt a small thrill when she noticed a pattern. She was right; there was something hidden in the book, protected with a very intricate, almost imperceptible seal. The author went to great lengths to conceal the seal's existence.

Her curiosity sparked, Patchouli started to work on undoing the seal. As she continued to try, her fascination grew more and more; the magician which crafted it clearly had decades, if not centuries, of experience. The magic of the seal was very advanced, morphing every time she came close to undoing it, restructuring itself when she made a mistake.

Finally, after the hundredth try, she managed to crack the spell. With one last wave of her finger, she undid the seal on the book. For a moment, nothing happened.

_"...Finally..."_

Patchouli jolted, surprised. It was faint, but she thought she heard something. Then her head suddenly felt fuzzy. She staggered, trying to stand up. She wanted to examine the book, but she couldn't focus anymore and...

_…_

_What was it she was doing again?_

_She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but the lethargy only increased. Weakly, she looked around, and noticed a shadowy figure in her library._

_"Hey... What are you doing here?" she asked weakly. The figure said nothing. It reached out and swiped one of the books from its shelf before calmly walking away._

_"Hey... You... wait..." Patchouli said, starting to follow the figure._

_The figure continued nonetheless, always ahead of her, but never too far ahead so that she would lose sight of it. Once, she wondered faintly why it was acting like that, but as she did, the fog grew thicker again in her mind and the thought disappeared. The figure soon led her out of the library._

* * *

"Argh!" Kukyo exclaimed, dropping the washcloth in his hand. For some reason, his hands had suddenly started to burn. Horrified, he quickly looked at his right palm, but the glove and the faint runes on it had not changed. Yet the burning sensation continued.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Sainan?" Sakuya asked, suddenly appearing behind him. He forced himself to calm down and turned around to face her with an apologetic smile on his face.

"No, not at all, Miss Izayoi," he said, trying to keep an easy tone in his voice, "I just moved my left shoulder the wrong way by accident," he explained, tapping the sling on his left arm slightly.

Sakuya frowned. "Well, try to be more careful, Mr. Sainan," she said, "It would be troublesome if you injure yourself more than you already have."

Kukyo forced himself to chuckle. "I'll try not to cause you any more trouble, Miss Izayoi." he said, picking up the washcloth on the ground while trying not to wince.

"Alright then," Sakuya said before leaving him.

Kukyo bit his lip. The burning sensation had not gone away; in fact, it was intensifying. He gritted his teeth and moved to try and finish his duties as quickly as possible. The faster he was done, the faster he would be able to get to the bottom of what was going on. As he turned a corner of the hallway, though, he came across someone he didn't expect. "Miss Knowledge? Miss Knowledge, is that you?" he asked.

From where he stood, he could see Patchouli, a bit down the hall, his book in her hand. Her expression was blank, and she had a faraway look in her eyes, as if she was not looking at him. For some reason, something felt off. He couldn't quite put his finger on what, though. Just then, Patchouli opened her mouth and spoke in a faint, trance-like voice.

"You... put down that book..." she said, almost too softly for him to hear.

"What are you talking about, Miss Knowledge? What book?" he asked, baffled.

Patchouli acted as though she didn't hear Kukyo's reply. "I won't... ask again..." she said, as she lifted her free hand.

"Miss Knowledge, are you -" Kukyo started to say before he finally noticed something wrong with the hand that held his book. Faint black lines travelled from the book up her hand, and even as he watched, he could see the lines coiling and shifting like a living thing.

"Argh!" Kukyo exclaimed again, as the pain in his hands suddenly intensified. He bent double from the shock. As he struggled to fight back the pain, he heard Patchouli's voice, still in that droning tone.

_"Fire Sign 'Agni Shine'."_

Kukyo whipped his head up and saw Patchouli's spellcard glowing, and fireballs suddenly appearing around her. He tried to turn around but he stumbled, and landed on his injured arm. Biting his lip, he managed to turn his head just in time to see the fireballs launching themselves in his direction.

* * *

_"...Soon...I will...be free..."_


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Well, sorry for the delay, exams and whatnot.

RandomNumbers523156: yeah, we're finally getting to the meat of the plot here.

* * *

Chapter 8

* * *

_Patchouli looked at the fire caused by her spell, hesitating. Why did she decide to do that, again? What if the book got damaged?_

_"Don't worry..." A soft, soothing voice assured her. "He was getting away with your book... you had no choice..."_

_In her foggy state of mind, all that she could do was nod slowly. Yes, that's right; she had no choice... he was..._

_However, as the fire died down, she blinked, surprised. The shadowy figure was away from the fire, and standing next to him was Sakuya, a firm hand on the figure's shoulder._

_"Sakuya?" Patchouli asked slowly, confused. Why would she be next to intruder like that? From the looks of it, she had pulled the figure out of the path of her spell. Why did she do that?_

_"Look again..." the soft voice prompted._

_Patchouli blinked a few times and gasped. The figure she thought was Sakuya was in fact another stranger, a shadowy figure she couldn't recognize._

_"They're intruders... both of them..." the soft voice said. "if you let them be... They'll steal all of your grimoires... The grimoires you've spent years collecting..."_

_"No," Patchouli whispered. "I won't let them."_

_"Well then..." the voice said, taking on a gleeful tone. "Annihilate them..."_

* * *

"T-thanks, Miss Izayoi," Kukyo said to Sakuya, who had appeared at the last second and saved him from the fire. "That was close."

Sakuya nodded before looking across the hall at Patchouli. "Would you mind telling me what is going on, Mr. Sainan?" she asked.

"I don't know," Kukyo said as he struggled to stand up. "Miss Knowledge suddenly attacked me out of the blue. I think... it might be something she found in my book."

Sakuya raised her eyebrow, and Kukyo pointed at the black lines which coiled around from his book up Patchouli's hand. "Whatever that is, I think that's what's causing this."

Patchouli launched another volley of fireballs at their direction. Sakuya clicked her tongue and jumped in the air, while Kukyo, back on his feet, managed to barely duck and weave through the flames, wincing both from the searing heat coming from the flames and the constant pain radiating from his palms.

Sakuya, on the other hand, had no trouble teleporting here and there, dodging the volleys. She then teleported right behind Patchouli, and reached out to remove her book from Patchouli's hand. The black lines suddenly coiled again and lashed out at Sakuya, who jumped back, surprised.

Patchouli turned around and pulled out another spellcard. _"Fire Metal Sign 'St. Elmo's Pillar'."_ she declared, summoning a pillar of flames which shot out at incredible speed, engulfing the space Sakuya had stood.

"Miss Izayoi!" Kuyko exclaimed.

"Relax Mr. Sainan, I'm fine," Sakuya's voice came from behind him. Kukyo turned around to see Sakuya standing there, the right shoulder of her uniform singed but otherwise unharmed. "Well, it seems that whatever's affecting Lady Patchouli at the moment won't allow her to recognize us," she said.

Kukyo raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"That last spell. She never would have used it against me, since she knows I'd be able to dodge it," she said. looking back at the black lines, which had grown thicker. "Mr. Sainan, that came from your book, right?"

Kukyo bit his lip. "Looks like it," he said. "If I had known, I wouldn't have given her the book to analyze."

"And you're sure you don't know what that is?" Sakuya asked him again, giving him a somewhat critical look.

Kukyo grimaced, looking back at Patchouli again, studying her expression, or lack thereof. He recognized that blank expression; He remembered occasions when he and his mentors were attacked, on the streets, at random, always by people with that expression on their face, mumbling incomprehensibly. His mentor would always drive them off, or knock them unconscious, before turning to him and smiling in a reassuring way, and he knew that, somehow, it was because of him, the thing inside him, that they were attacked. He winced at the pain in his hands, now convinced that whatever was affecting Patchouli, it was connected to the pain.

As he opened his mouth to bring it up to Sakuya's attention, Patchouli turned to their direction and shot off another pillar of flames. Kukyo was slow to react because of the pain and would have been hit had Sakuya not grabbed the scruff of his collar and teleported them behind a corner.

"Thanks," Kukyo breathed, unable to keep the grimace off of his face.

Sakuya noticed his expression and studied how he was holding his hand for a moment before asking, "How long has it been hurting?"

Kukyo looked up at her, at first surprised, before sighing. "Since a while now," he said apologetically.

Sakuya nodded before moving to turn the corner. "Stay here, then. I'll deal with Lady Patchouli." She teleported away before Kukyo could protest.

Kukyo leaned back on the wall, cursing himself. He knew that this would not have happened if he was simply straightforward with Patchouli about what he was looking for.

He gritted his teeth, splaying his right hand in front of him and focusing, trying to recreate one of the spells which he remembered his mentor had used. "I won't let you win this time," he said through gritted teeth at the ever intensifying pain.

* * *

Sakuya carefully analyzed the situation as she continued to dodge Patchouli's spell.

Whatever it was doing, those black lines from the book was clearly impairing Patchouli's judgment. The Patchouli she knew would definitely not blindly shoot off with her spell to simply try to hit her target. It lacked any of thought or strategy. However, although that made her task of dodging easier, it also made her concerned for Patchouli's condition. Patchouli's face was getting paler and paler, and her breathing was ragged.

Sakuya decided to prioritize on getting that book away from Patchouli's hand, which would be tricky. She had a feeling that simply stopping time and taking it from Patchouli's hand would be unwise, as the thing could very well latch on to her instead. So she started to throw knives, aiming at the book, hoping to knock it out of Patchouli's hand, and clicked her tongue when the black lines lashed out and swiped the knives out of the air. Undeterred, Sakuya started to take out her own spellcard.

_"Illusion Image 'Luna Clock',"_ she declared, starting the spellcards, focusing all her attacks on the book. The lines, while still managing to swipe the knives away, were certainly stretched thin from the greater volume and changing trajectory. If the density was a bit higher, she was sure she could break through. With that in mind, she took out her next spellcard.

_"Maid Secret Skill 'Killing Doll'!"_ she declared, confident that this attack will hit.

* * *

_Patchouli desperately tried to avoid the knives that one of the intruders had thrown at her. Somewhere deep in her mind, she thought that the intruder's attacks were eerily familiar._

_"It doesn't matter..." the voice whispered. "Focus... on dodging."_

_But the knives weren't really even aimed at her; rather, they all seem to be going for her left hand. She can easily graze through most of these knives and -_

_"No!" the voice was stern this time. "Do not let... even a single one... graze you...they'll... kill you..."_

_In the back of her mind, something tried to tell her that that was unlikely, but the haze in her mind simply made her nod and declare another spell. "Moon Sign 'Silent Selene'." The arrows of moonlight circled around her, creating a wall which shot down most of the knives as they came close to her._

_"Good... good..." the voice said._

_Patchouli put a hand on her knee, tired from the strain, breathing heavily. She was near her limit._

_"No... keep going..." the voice goaded on maliciously. "Don't let them win... repel them... destroy them... KILL THEM..."_

_Like a puppet, her body obeyed._

* * *

Sakuya grimaced as she continued to dodge. Patchouli's last spellcard had rendered hers ineffective, and now, Patchouli was lashing out with erratic bullets and spells at her. She needs to end this quickly.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she suddenly saw a figure dart quickly from behind a corner and rush at Patchouli's direction. It was Kukyo, a determined expression on his face. A cluster of bullets ripped through the air at his direction. He rolled and dodged, only to be hit by another one and brought to his knees. Sakuya had to teleport him away again before another barrage hit him.

"What did you think you were doing?" Sakuya asked sternly.

"Trying to get close to her," Kukyo said through gritted teeth. "I have a plan." He showed her the spellcard which he just finished creating, and she read it before pausing to consider.

"Do you believe this will work?" Sakuya asked.

"Well, it'll allow me to grab the book, at least," Kukyo said. "Though I'm not sure about its limits, so I have to use it as close to her as possible."

Sakuya considered it again before nodding. "As close as possible, you said?"she asked him. He nodded, and she extended her hand at him. "Alright. Grab on, I'll take you right above her," she said, and he complied. The next instant, she teleported them in the air, right above Patchouli.

Sakuya let Kukyo go, and he activated his spellcard.

_"Fool's Sign 'Magician's White Glove'!"_

Cards materialized and swarmed around his hand, creating a comically big white glove around it. The black lines tried to lash out at him, but as they hit the white glove, they exploded into new cards, which then flew back into the glove, making it larger.

Kukyo managed to grab the book, and hesitated only slightly before triggering the second phase of his spellcard. All the cards which formed his glove shot outwards in a swirling sphere, throwing both him and Patchouli to opposite directions, and making both of them let go of the book, which fell to the ground. The force slammed Kukyo to the wall, and he exclaimed in pain and slid to the ground.

Just as his vision faded, he saw Sakuya catching an unconscious Patchouli before the same thing could happen to her. "Thank goodness," he murmured before everything turned dark.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

* * *

_Kukyo slowly opened his eyes, dazed. His ears were ringing, his head throbbing. Every single muscle in his body ached. Somehow he noticed that his hands were wet through the gloves. Apparently he was sitting, leaning on something that was strangely moving. He tried to stand up_

_"Ah... you're... awake, Kukyo. You're such a sleepyhead..."_

_Kukyo froze. The voice was weak, and it came from directly behind him. He realized that he was leaning on his mentor, and turned around. What he saw drained the blood from his face._

_She was breathing heavily, and even though there was a smile on her face, he could tell she was in agony. As he looked more closely, he could see a red stain growing on her shirt, as well as a small pool forming under her. He was afraid to look at his hands, even as he knew what the moistness on them were. What had happened? He desperately tried to rack his brain, but his memory was jumbled, unclear. All he could remember was stepping into a restaurant with her after a good day of performances, but then - and then -_

_He winced as the throbbing grew worse._

_"Ah, try not to strain yourself, Kukyo... you just woke up." his mentor said, trying to emulate her usual tone, but because of her pained expression, it sounded incredibly forced._

_"W-wait here, I'll... I'll... Help!" Kukyo yelled, desperately trying, despite his aching body, to search for help. He quickly found his way to the street, but for some reason, no one was around, nor did anyone come running even as he yelled at the top of his lungs. Desperately, he returned to his mentor's side, confused, trying to stanch the wound as best he could. "Hang on, I'll - I'll - Help! Somebody! Help!"_

_"Kukyo, save your breath... No one'll come for a while. I made sure..." his mentor said cryptically. "If you leave now... you'll be fine."_

_Kukyo noticed it then - remnants of energy in the air, fragments of his mentor's spell and... something else. "But... I don't understand. How could this have..." Kukyo gasped, looking at his hands, noticing the new runes on them glowing faintly under the blood. "No way... did it - did I -"_

_His mentor forced a chuckle, and weakly lifted an arm to pat his head. "Don't worry your head about it. I... took care of it... you shouldn't..." she coughed, blood coming out of her mouth as she did. "You... should go. It won't be pretty if the police caught you like this."_

_"But - but -" Kukyo choked, keeping his pressure on the wound desperately._

_His mentor sighed, and reached up, taking the hat off of her head and plopping it on his, winking. "Hey, hey, come on now, remember, I'm..." another fit of coughs ran through her body. "I'm..."_

_" Hey, no, stay with me. Stay with me! I- I'm sorry, please don't - "_

* * *

"No!" Kukyo exclaimed as he shot up to a seating position. He was, for a moment, disoriented, until he recognized his surroundings as his room in the mansion. Breathing heavily, he put his hands to his face to try to calm himself down, but as he did, the image of his mentor's blood staining his hands flashed before his eyes again and he nearly retched. After taking a long moment to regain his breath, he unsteadily got off the bed and took some steps outside, but hesitated, unsure of what he would have to do now after that incident.

"Ah. I was just coming to get you," Sakuya's voice said from behind him. The familiar voice helped calm him down, and he managed to turn around with an apologetic smile on his face.

"It's nice to see you, Miss Izayoi," he said. "Um, how long was I...?"

"A few hours," Sakuya answered, then, as if knowing his unspoken question, she added, "Lady Patchouli is fine, Mr. Sainan. In fact, she would like to speak with you."

"I... see," Kukyo said, both relieved and worried at the same time. While the fact that Patchouli was alright certainly eased his mind a bit, given the fact that it was his book that went berserk, she would definitely want answers.

"Aside from that, are your hands alright, Mr. Sainan?" Sakuya asked.

"Ah, well," Kukyo said, lifting his hands up as he realized that the pain was gone. He wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing, though; at the very least, it connected his runes to whatever was in his book. "Yes, they're fine. Sorry to have inconvenienced you like that."

"It was nothing." Sakuya said before reaching out to Kukyo. "Now then, Lady Patchouli asked that you come right away."

"Alright," Kukyo said, grabbing her hand as she teleported him straight to the library, right in front of Patchouli's desk. Patchouli did not seem to notice their entrance, and was busy flipping through her books.

"Lady Patchouli, I've brought him," Sakuya said, finally getting her attention. Patchouli looked up, but she didn't seem all too surprised, and merely nodded.

"Thank you Sakuya," she said.

"Would that be all?" Sakuya asked.

"Yes, that's fine." Patchouli said. Sakuya nodded and disappeared, leaving Kukyo and Patchouli alone.

After pausing a few moments, Kukyo started to say, "Miss Knowledge, about what happened, I -"

Before he could finish, though, Patchouli stopped him with a hand. "Right. We'll get to that. First and foremost," she said, reaching down in her pile of books and pulling out a familiar book; his own. Kukyo could see some unfamiliar runes tracing along the outside of the cover now, binding it shut in the same fashion that a chain would. "This book honestly caught me by surprise. I hardly expected something so strong to be sealed inside a book from the Outside World. It took a bit of effort to re-seal it again."

Kukyo swallowed nervously. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't know something like that was sealed inside. I- I thought -"

"You thought that it was only sealed inside you, right?" Patchouli said again, catching him by surprise.

"How did you-"

"Show me your hands, Mr. Sainan," Patchouli said, cutting him off again. Kukyo paused for a moment before yielding, spreading his hands out to her, letting her examine the faint runes that line them. Patchouli traced her fingers on some of them for what seemed like an eternity before sighing and saying in an irritated manner, "You know, Mr. Sainan, if you had shown me this beforehand, it would have saved us all trouble."

"You recognize them?" Kukyo asked her. In response, she handed him one of the open books on her table. Confused, Kukyo started to read the entry inside. The page was filled illustrations of runes. Although he couldn't decipher what was written, he does recognize the runes as the ones around his hand. More importantly though, he recognized the handwriting; how could he not, given the fact he had constantly read it for the past eight years?

Kukyo swallowed hard. "This... what is this book?" he asked Patchouli

"It's one of my older collections, actually. Comes from someone who calls herself the 'Illusionist of Dreams.'" Patchouli said, going into a full blown explanation of the author. Kukyo barely caught snippets of what she was saying, as he continued to flip through the pages of the book. The language used was old, but nonetheless, he could recognize not only his mentor's handwriting, but also her distinct style.

His head was swimming. What could this possibly mean? Patchouli did say that this book was part of her older collection. How old? One hundred years? Two hundred? Three?

"... Mr. Sainan, are you listening?" Patchouli asked him, breaking him from his thoughts.

"I- no, Miss Knowledge, I wasn't, sorry, I -" he stammered. "It's - a lot to take in." He lifted the book back up. "Can I- take a look at this?"

Patchouli studied his expression for a moment before sighing. "I can't let you take that book with you, but you're welcome to read it here."

"Thank you," Kukyo said, his voice sounding off and flat even to his own ears. "I'll - I'll be over there," he said, shuffling towards a more secluded section of the library.

* * *

Patchouli watched Kukyo shamble off. He looked broken, for some reason, and that confused her; after all, she gave him what he was looking for, even despite that incident concerning his book.

She frowned again as she remembered the entire experience again, and looked at the book, as if doing so would bring her closer to identifying what was sealed within. The closest Youkai she could think of with a similar power would be the someone like Satori Komeiji, but even then, some things didn't quite add up. And then there was also the problem of the Illusionist of Dreams herself. From Kukyo's reaction, it seemed that she was the 'mentor' he had told her about. What would possess her to seal something so dangerous into a human boy? After all, she managed to seal part of it into her book.

Patchouli sighed. She had hoped that talking to Kukyo about it would answer some of those questions.

Instead, it only raised more.

* * *

Kukyo slumped down at one of the isolated corners he had found in the library, the book gripped loosely in his hands. He put his head between his knees and sighed.

There was too much in that book for him to take in. He couldn't comprehend a single thing that was discussed in it; not the explanations nor the spells nor the diagrams. It was all so alien to him. And yet, at the same time, it was all too familiar. He could literally hear his mentor's voice, going through all the complex definitions, adding in that occasional tangent or joke.

All at once Kukyo realized just how little he actually knew about his mentor. In those eight years, she never once told him about herself. Gods, she never even told him her name!

Questions swam around in his mind. What else did she not tell him about? What else did she know? Did she know what the thing inside him was, all this time?

_Of course she did._

Kukyo jumped up, surprised. For a moment, he thought that someone had just answered his question. But as he stood there, alert, he could hear no other sounds but his own breathing. He chuckled, putting a hand to his face.

"Great... I'm going crazy," he said to himself. He took a deep breath, and started to walk back to where Patchouli was. For now, he would return the book, and go about his usual duties, if only to give his mind time to digest. And then...

* * *

As Kukyo continued his introspection, he failed to notice a slight shift on the surface of his gloves. One of the runes flashed brighter for a small instant.

It then disappeared.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Well, here we go, slowly reaching for the ending. I have to say, this chapter was one that was a lot of fun to write. Not sure why, though.

hiallofyou: thanks, I appreciate that.

RandomNumbers523156: Indeed, things will get complicated real quickly.

* * *

Chapter 10

* * *

"Four out of ten."

Kukyo paused, looking questioningly at Remilia, who had just put down the tea he served her. "Pardon, Mistress Scarlet?"

Remilia put the tea down with a disapproving look on her face. "This tea. It's lukewarm. You took too long to make it. On top of that, you added too much sugar into it." she said, listing off her complaints with it. "The presentation left much to be desired as well."

"Is that so, Mistress Scarlet?" Kukyo said, trying to hide the weariness in his voice. "I'm very sorry, I'll do better next time."

Remilia shook her head somewhat sadly. "Shame. Sakuya said you've made quite some progress as a butler here, so I took it upon myself to see how you've progressed, but it seems she hadn't taught you the proper way to make a cup of tea yet."

Kukyo looked down, biting his lip. In truth, Sakuya had started to teach him that very thing a week ago. However, his mind had been so muddled recently he couldn't concentrate or even remember much of Sakuya's instructions.

It had been a week since Patchouli showed him the book, the one his mentor had written that he had never known about. Since then, he had kept away from the library. He had hoped that some time away would help him sort things out, and so he had tried to preoccupy himself by diving into his duties. Instead, he found himself growing steadily and steadily more unsure by the day. It was like there was this small persistent voice in his head, one which kept on throwing more doubts about his mentor to his mind.

"Something on your mind, Boy?" Remilia asked him as he realized he had been looking down too long. He immediately looked back up and put up a polite smile.

"Nothing, Mistress Scarlet," he answered. "Will that be all?"

Remilia looked at his face for a long minute before giving a short laugh and waving him away. "No, no that's all," she said. He bowed and moved to leave the dining room. Just as he was about to step out of the door, though, Remilia called to him. "Oh, and Boy?"

He looked back at her, expecting another request. Instead, she gave him an amused expression.

"You need to work more on your fake smile," she said.

Kukyo was stunned. He stayed there, expecting Remilia to say more, but she simply leaned back in her chair, as if indicating to him that she had said all that she would. After waiting another moment, he bowed again and left the room.

* * *

_He stood in the middle of nowhere. All around him was vast, impenetrable mist, so thick that he couldn't see but a foot in front of himself. He started to walk in one direction, confused, for this was the first time he could remember something similar happening in his dream; in fact, this was the first time he was aware of it being a dream. Most of the time, he only experienced flashbacks, memories of the past. He kept walking for what seemed like forever, but no matter how long he walked, no matter which direction he travelled, the mist persisted, obscuring his way._

"...Liar..."

_He stopped in his tracks. The voice, though soft, cut through the air, and it seemed to have come from directly below him. He crouched down, touching the surface that he stood on. It was smooth, black surface, with no imperfections such that he could clearly see his reflection on the ground. He reached out to touch the surface with his hand, only to be surprised when it rippled like water, disturbing the smooth surface. In the shockwaves, he thought he could see his mentor's face, with that smile she always had, her mouth half-open, as if in the middle of saying something, undoubtedly another confident assurance to him, perhaps even one of her playful jabs at his inexperience._

_After displaying that image, the surface settled again to his reflection, but the expression on his face seemed to be accusing, almost angry._

"She was lying, you know,"_ his reflection suddenly said in that soft voice, causing him to gasp and jump back up. He heard his reflection chuckle and continue._ "How could she not have been? After all, she's been keeping her entire past from you. What else?"

_"No," he said, trying to clamp his ears. But the voice, soft as it was, continued to resound in his head, whispering to him._

"She was never there for you; she was there for herself," _it said._

_"No, that's not true!" he exclaimed, his expression turning to horror as he started to slowly sink through the surface. Just before he was completely submerged, he again saw the reflection of his head, sneering in such a way that he could barely recognize it._

* * *

Kukyo sat up on his bed again, panting. Even though he was awake now, the voice still echoed in his head. He continued to sit there for a good few minutes, trying to calm himself down, before remembering vaguely that he still had the morning's duties to take care of. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself out of the bed, and out of the room.

As he made his way to start his morning duties, Sakuya appeared in front of him suddenly in the middle of the hallway. "G-good morning, Miss Izayoi," he greeted her, "I was just on my way to my duties, and -"

Sakuya never gave him the chance to finish, for the next moment, she teleported him to the kitchen, sitting on a chair.

"What?" Kukyo said, confused. His confusion grew even greater when Sakuya gave him a cup filled with tea.

"Drink that," she said with a stern tone. A little suspicious, he took a sip. It was her regular tea, and despite himself he sighed contently as its warmth spread throughout his body.

"Thanks," he said, giving her back the cup.

Sakuya took it, her expression still the same. She pointed behind him. "There's some breakfast over there. Make sure you eat some before you start your work this time."

Kukyo blinked a few times, perplexed, before he realized that he must have started to eat irregularly because of all that was on his mind.

"And another thing, Mr. Sainan," Sakuya continued, "I may not know about your exact situation, but regardless, doing nothing about your problems is not a solution."

Kukyo looked at her, speechless, before sighing and chuckling. It looked like Remilia was correct; he really did need to work on his fake smile. Or maybe things were just too much for him to simply keep it to himself anymore.

Just as Sakuya turned to leave, he made up his mind, "Miss Izayoi?"

"Yes?"

He paused for another moment before speaking again. "Say... you've discovered something about Mistress Scarlet, another side of her that you never knew, something that made you question her. What would you do?"

Sakuya scoffed. "Well, Mr. Sainan, given the time I've served under her, it's hardly likely that I'll find some side of her I'm not already acquainted with," she said. "And even if I did, that wouldn't change what I do know about her. In fact, I might actually welcome it, as I would then know more about the Mistress."

Kukyo blinked, before laughing. When Sakuya raised an eyebrow, confused by his outburst, he simply said, "Thank you, Miss Izayoi, that - that helped. A lot."

"If you say so," Sakuya said, "Well then, don't forget to clean up after you've eaten, and don't take too long either."

"Don't worry, I won't," Kukyo assured, now back to his usual tone. With that, Sakuya disappeared, leaving him to sigh and rub the back of his head. "Gods, I was an idiot," he remarked. How could he have let something like that discourage him so much? So what if his mentor was the Illusionist of Dreams? That doesn't change the eight years they had spent together. She could have had numerous reasons why she kept that to herself; why did he let the worst come to his mind?

Chuckling again, he got up, searching for the breakfast Sakuya had told him about. He ate it quickly and again gave a contented sigh when he finished, letting himself appreciate the fact that it was the first breakfast he had eaten in a long time.

* * *

"Hello, Miss Knowledge. It's been a while."

Patchouli looked up from her book to see Kukyo, waving in a friendly manner at her. "Indeed it has. I had thought you'd lost interest in coming here anymore since you've found what you came for."

It took Kukyo a second to realize she had meant the book his mentor had wrote. "Well, no, I was just making things too complicated for myself." he said, rubbing the back of his head. "I really don't know what came over me, to be honest."

Patchouli considered what he had said for a moment. "Mr. Sainan, has change occurred to the seals on your gloves?"

Kukyo raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean? I don't-" he started to say, bringing his hands up to his face. He stopped however, when he noticed the change. There were several runes missing now, and what was left seemed to be riddled with small holes "What the - what's going on? How did this happen?"

Patchouli bit her lip. "Just as I feared. Follow me, Mr. Sainan," she said, rising from her desk and going towards the center of the library.

Kukyo followed her, confused. "What is it, Miss Knowledge?"

She looked back at him, a worried expression on her face. "I think I figured out what exactly is sealed inside you, and if I'm right, we don't have a moment to lose.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Boy, this was a long one to write. Hopefully it turned out well.

* * *

Chapter 11

* * *

Taken aback by Patchouli's statement, Kukyo's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

Patchouli clicked her teeth, annoyed. "You heard me," she said, continuing along, reaching the center of the library. "Here will have to do," she said, lifting up the books she had cradled in her hands. Kukyo instantly recognized them; one was his book, still chained by Patchouli's seal. The other was the book his mentor had written. Patchouli flipped through that book now, skimming it, searching for something.

Still confused, Kukyo took another look at the runes on his hands. His eyes weren't deceiving him; they really were falling apart. Even as he watched, he could see bits of the runes that were still there peel away before disappearing. How could he not have noticed that? "I don't understand. Why now?"

"Most likely because of what happened a week ago," Patchouli answered. "The seals on your hands and book seem to be related. When I broke the one on your book, the ones on your hands appear to have weakened, giving the nightmare an opportunity to start breaking the seals."

Kukyo blinked. "Nightmare?"

In response, Patchouli handed him the book. "Page forty, Mr. Sainan."

Kukyo flipped the book to that page. It was near the end, and and he started to read what was written on it.

_...Although I have not quite encountered an actual case of this occurring, from the repeated experiments I've conducted, I can say that it's highly possible for dreams to, under certain conditions, become an entity of their own. Such an entity, I believe, will be able to manipulate dreams and create illusions in a way which I myself would not be able to even with my magic, since it is, itself, a dream._

_Unfortunately, I have not taken steps to prove this hypothesis, nor do I wish to. This is primarily because of the factors which must be present for such a thing to occur. More likely than not, should this occur, the entity will be malicious in nature, more a "nightmare" than a dream._

_This entry serves only as a warning for any future magicians who will be using this book as a reference. Treat any experiment you conduct on dreams with caution, lest such an entity manifests._

"The illusion that I saw when I broke the seal in your book seemed to match the capabilities that was described there," Patchouli said. "I felt sluggish and unfocused, as if in a dream, and this voice continued to goad me on."

"Voice?" Kukyo said before gasping. The voice that he thought was his own, spurring his doubt, could it have been the nightmare instead? Was it trying to distract him as it attempted to break free?

He clenched his fists, and walked up to Patchouli. "What do you need me to do?" he asked her with a determined voice.

* * *

Kukyo finished the last of the runes which Patchouli had instructed him to draw on the floor. He glanced again at the inscriptions on the page she had given him, making sure that what he had drawn on the floor was accurate; given the urgency of the situation, they could ill afford an accident because he was careless with the preparations.

"Mr. Sainan, are you quite done?" Patchouli asked him.

After giving the runes one last inspection, he answered, "yeah, I'm ready Miss Knowledge."

"Good. Then stand at the center, we'll start immediately," Patchouli said. Kukyo complied, stepping into the elaborate circle of runes.

Patchouli moved to just outside the circle, and asked him, "Mr. Sainan, are you clear on what you're supposed to do?"

Kukyo glanced again at the circle around him. "Are you sure this is going to work, Miss Knowledge?"

Patchouli nodded. "It should help. According to your mentor's notes, this spell allows the one using it to 'fight a bad dream off'. Since a nightmare is still a dream, it should work against it; just remember that you need to activate it inside your mind."

"Alright then," Kukyo said, taking a deep breath. "let's start."

Patchouli splayed her hands and the circle started glowing. Kukyo closed his eyes and continued to breathe deliberately, focusing his mind, preparing himself to face his tormentor at long last.

* * *

_He blinked, disoriented, and looked around. He was in the middle of nowhere again with the impenetrable mist around him and the smooth black surface under him. He looked at the reflective surface, and his reflection peered back at him, like last time. He reached down and swiped the surface, which again parted from his hands like water._

"Why are you being so obstinate?"_ the soft voice said, echoing from all around him. _"Accept the truth..."

_"Give it up," he replied harshly. "I know what you are now; that won't work on me."_

_The surface settled and his reflection returned, now with a sneer on his face._

"Well, this is interesting,"_ his reflection said with that soft voice, only this time the lulling, disarming tone in it was gone, replaced by something cold and malicious. _"I had wanted to... play around with you a bit longer, but I suppose I can't anymore. Such a shame."

_As he watched, the reflection slowly disappeared, and a figure appeared in front of him, the mist obscuring everything but the figure's silhouette. Even then, he knew that it was the nightmare, and that was confirmed when the voice came again from the silhouette's direction._

"Now then, I suppose you're here to try and stop me?"_ the voice said in a mocking tone. _"I was so close, too. A day, two more, and I would've been able to break the seal completely."

_He gritted his teeth. "You... you..." he said in a low voice._

"Hmm?"_ the voice said as the silhouette put a hand against its ear and leaned closer to him. _"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Can you say that again? Louder, preferably."

_"How dare you use me like that! It's not enough that you killed her, you have the nerve to try and destroy my faith in her with your lies!?" He shouted, enraged._

"Oh? That's all?"_ the voice said nonchalantly._

_He scowled and snapped his fingers, activating the spell. A glowing circle of runes appeared under them. The runes proceeded to peel away from the circle, wrapping around the silhouette like shining chains._

"Ah. I see you've come prepared,"_ the voice said, still composed. _"You really think this will hold me though?"

_He didn't bother answering that question. He merely brought his hand down, letting the runes glow fiercely, tightening around the silhouette. The voice exclaimed in pain and surprise as the silhouette's figure continued to be constricted by the runes._

"Argh! It hurts!"_ the voice said in agony. _"T-this is... one of her spells, isn't it!?"

_He again didn't answer, and the spell continued to tighten around the silhouette, so much so that the figure became sickeningly distorted._

"Stop! Stop!"_ the voice pleaded._

_He looked at the silhouette without any mercy in his eyes. "Why should I? You never did," he finally answered, bringing his hand down once more. The voice screamed one last time as the runes tightened, ripping the figure to shreds which disappeared in the mist. And then, there was silence._

_He stood there, taking it in, looking up at the mist. He did it. He finally did it. After eight years, he was finally able to rid himself of that nightmare, finally able to avenge his mentor._

_He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He still needed to find a way to wake up. Maybe if he walked a certain direction long enough? Or perhaps if he concentrated and willed himself to wake up?_

"Try to pinch yourself. That might help."

_He clapped his hands together. "Right! That should be-" he began to say before his eyes widened. He whipped around towards the source of the voice, only to find black tendrils suddenly shooting up from the ground, wrapping around his legs and arms and forcing him down to a kneeling position. On the surface, he saw his reflection again, with an arrogant smile on his face._

"That was mildly annoying,"_ the voice said, speaking through his reflection again._

_"H-how?" He asked with disbelief._

"Well, it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience,"_ the voice said before his reflection twisted his mouth into a gleeful smile. _"Here, let me show you."

_He exclaimed in pain as the tendrils tightened around him._

"Really, though, I didn't expect you to have used one of her old spells. Took me by surprise, that's for sure,"_ the voice continued evenly._

_He yelled again as the tendrils continued to tighten around him, confused. Why didn't the spell work?_

"Well, it's not like it didn't, actually,"_ the voice said, as if reading his thoughts. _"You just used it wrong. That spell was really meant to dispel dreams that has no business being in your mind."

_"But... you..." He gasped, as tendrils continued to tighten around his chest. "You... don't..."_

"Belong?"_ the voice finished for him. _"Is that it? you think I don't belong in your mind?"_ The voice laughed almost uncontrollably. _"Ah... that's rich, that's rich. As a matter of fact, I _do_ belong here. More than you, for that matter."

_"What do you..." He gasped out. His reflection shook his head disappointedly._

"Still trying to deny it? Now who's the liar here again?"_ the voice said._

_He gritted his teeth. "You..."_

_His reflection wagged his finger. _"Ah, but see, that's wrong. _I've_ never lied to you, not even once. You've been lying to yourself."

_His reflection then grinned gleefully. _"Don't take my word for it, though. See it for yourself."

_More tendrils shot up from the surface, catching his head, and pulled, submerging him into the darkness._

"Now then, let me show you the truth."

* * *

_He was inside a building; a restaurant that looked as though a windstorm had ripped through its interior. His mentor stood in front of him, in a guarded position. Her expression was harsh. "Give him back," she said._

_His mouth moved, but the voice that came out did not felt like his. "Why should I? It's been eight years. I've been dying to come out," it said. "Or is facing me too much for you?"_

_His mentor scowled, and he heard himself laugh in an exaggerated way. "But you really are powerful. To think you were able to keep that meager illusion going for that long. Was it nice, having me play the helpless human, guided and nurtured by his ever-vigilant mentor, an ignorant puppet?"_

_"You... He was never anything like that!" his mentor said coldly._

_He heard himself chuckle again. "You're differentiating again. Is it so hard to accept that we're the same?"_

_"You're nothing alike. You're a monster, and he's-"_

_"Human?" again, that harsh laugh came from his mouth. "Come now, we both know that was because _you_ created him that way; a blank slate, without _my_ memories,_ my_ knowledge, _my_ pain. A dream that you fooled around with to make yourself feel better for screwing _ME_ up!" the voice roared before continuing, in a low, hollow tone. "but all dreams have to end. Isn't that right?"_

_His mentor scowled, and materialized cards in the air around them. "Not if I have anything to say about it."_

_Again, the voice chuckled. "You know, I just had a thought. Why don't I kill you and _then_ bring him out to see? Won't that be lovely?" So saying, he rushed at his mentor and-_

* * *

_He forced his head out of the surface, breathing heavily. The tendrils were not binding him anymore, but even then, he found no strength to stand up._

"Well? Did you like it?"_ the voice asked him._

_"No... That's... a lie..." he gasped out, still struggling to breathe._

"Really?"_ the voice said gleefully. _"Well then, tell me, what's your birthday? Who's your father? Your mother? Where were you born?"

_"I..." He choked, trying hard to find the answer to the voice's questions, but failing to find any._

"Come on now, if you were real you should be able to tell me that."_ the voice taunted. _"Well, let's make it easier; can you tell me _anything_ about yourself before you 'met' your mentor?"

_His breathing grew increasingly ragged, and he found he couldn't even muster enough strength to speak anymore. Even if he could, he had no answer to give._

"... of course you can't, because you're. not. real."_ the voice said._

_He felt himself start to sink into the dark surface. He tried to struggle, but found that he can't. A figure walked into his view; his reflection. Or was he the reflection all along?_

"Well,"_ his reflection said, lifting one hand in the air._ "Time for 'me' to wake up."

_His reflection snapped his fingers._

* * *

Patchouli noticed Kukyo's eyes flickering open as the circle's light died down. She cautiously approached him. "Mr. Sainan? Are you alright?"

Kukyo glanced at her, and smiled. "Well, yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

Patchouli was relieved. From his eyes, she could tell that he was not under some illusion. "We can never be too careful," she said to him.

Kukyo's smile persisted on his face. "No, I suppose we can't." he looked at the circle. "Still, that spell was very effective. The nightmare disappeared just like that."

"Then what took you so long?" Patchouli asked pointedly. "You were under for nearly half an hour."

Kukyo rubbed the back of his head. "Well... I kinda couldn't find the exit." he said apologetically before smiling again.

"Don't worry, though. Everything's alright now."

* * *

After exiting the library, Kukyo leaned on the library door, looking at his gloved hands for a minute before holding himself, barely trying to contain a chuckle.

"Finally. Took long enough," he said. Now all that was left to do is to figure out a way to unseal his powers from the book, and then...

He bursted into another fit of chuckles before clearing his throat and walking away.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: And here's chapter 12. Not as long as the previous chapter, mind you, but hopefully it's still as enjoyable.

hiallofyou: Well, you'll just have to find out in the story.

RandomNumbers523156: Thanks. I think that previous chapter turned out well, and yeah I will. Only a few more chapters left.

* * *

Chapter 12

* * *

"Here is your tea, Lady Patchouli," Sakuya said, putting the tea which Patchouli had requested down on the table. Patchouli nodded simply, reaching for the cup, her eyes still glued on the book she was reading.

"Thank you Sakuya. While you're here, would you mind fixing that?" Patchouli said, pointing to the circle drawn on the center of the library. Sakuya, understanding her request, nodded and cleaned it up in the blink of an eye.

"There you are Lady Patchouli," she said. "Did you do another one of your experiments?"

"I suppose..." Patchouli said. Sakuya could tell that something was occupying Patchouli's mind as she continued flipping through her book.

"Do you need anything else?" Sakuya asked after a while. Patchouli frowned, but shook her head.

"No, I'm fine for now." Patchouli said, finishing her tea. Sakuya took the cup and saucer and teleported back to the kitchen, where she was surprised to see Kukyo.

"Mr. Sainan?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just... going to do the dishes," Kukyo answered. Sakuya noticed the pause.

"Have you finished your other duties?" Sakuya asked him. He threw up his hands defensively.

"I I made sure I did," Kukyo said, "Just... you know, I figured since I have some time I would help out a bit more."

Again, she noticed the pause before his response, and this time she brought it to his attention. "Mr. Sainan, while I do appreciate your sentiments, I would appreciate it if you tell me the truth," she said firmly.

Kukyo blinked, taken aback from the comment, before chuckling. "Well, I suppose I can't fool you, Miss Izayoi," he said before chuckling. "Truth is, I wanted to sneak in some practice at tea making. After all, the last time I tried to make some for Mistress Scarlet did not end quite well, and I do want to do better next time." He rubbed the back of his head. "Course, that being said, I can't find any of the cups or a pot."

"I see," Sakuya said, sighing."Well, we store them up there," Sakuya said, pointing at one of the counters above Kukyo's reach.

"Really?" Kukyo said, flying up and opening the counter she pointed to. "I see. Thanks, Miss Izayoi." He said.

Sakuya nodded. "Try not to use up too many tea leaves, Mr. Sainan. And next time, Mr. Sainan, just ask."

"I'll keep that in mind, Miss Izayoi," Kukyo said, still smiling.

* * *

Kukyo started to make the tea, humming to himself, while inwardly keeping alert, making sure that maid would not barge in as he prepared his "tea".

He was lucky that he had access to his fake's memories, or he would have had trouble trying to convince her. At the state that he was in, he doubted he could take her on.

He frowned, looking up at his hands with a mildly annoyed expression. That damn woman sure made things hard for him. Not only did she manage to send him away again, she even had enough in her even after what he did to cut off his powers from him and put it into that book of hers, leaving him with only whatever meager skills his fake had. With luck, though, he should be able to break the seal soon.

This should do just fine. He opened the pot and snapped his finger, materializing a black card which fell into the tea. He watched as the card slowly disappeared, mixing with the tea itself. He then poured himself a small cup, tasting the tea before nodding, satisfied. There. That should do the trick just fine.

He put everything on a tray, and quickly made his way back to the library. The thing to do now is to try and fool that librarian into drinking. Balancing the tray with one hand, he opened the doors and entered the library, finding her where he had left her, at the table, still poring over her book.

He cleared his throat. "Miss Knowledge?" he said, trying to get her attention.

She glanced up from her book, saw him, and looked back down. "No thank you. Sakuya already brought me some."

Kukyo resisted the urge to click his tongue and proceeded to place the tray down on the table, carefully thinking on how to coax her into drinking the tea. "Really? Well, that's a darn shame. I had wanted to thank you for helping me earlier," he said, trying to mimic his fake's tone. "I brought some sweets from the kitchen as well, if you would like some."

"That's nice," Patchouli said, ignoring him. He bit the inside of his lip. This was not working out. As he tried to come up with another approach, he noticed that the book she was reading was the one written by that woman, and got an idea.

"So, Miss Knowledge, still reading that book? Something still bothering you about it?" he asked her.

"Of course," Patchouli said, rolling her eyes. "It was just odd. The circle should have disappeared when the spell was completed."

"Really?" Kukyo said, feigning interest, casually pouring both himself and her a cup, sliding it to her. "It worked on the nightmare. It disappeared quite spectacularly. Doesn't that mean that it worked?"

"Not necessarily," Patchouli said, "for all we know, the nightmare could be bluffing, Mr. Sainan, and biding his time."

"Well, I feel fine," he said, sipping from his cup deliberately. "And the runes on my hands have stopped deteriorating. Isn't that a good thing."

Patchouli sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Really, this is why I would rather not deal with amateurs who don't even know the basis of these spells." she said, reaching for the cup in front of her, as if by habit.

Kukyo forced a chuckle, "Sorry," he said, keeping an eye focused on the cup as Patchouli brought the cup to her lips. As she drank from it, he couldn't help but break out into a smile.

Patchouli grimaced, putting the cup down. "Ugh. What is this? It's horrible," she said, putting the cup down.

"Right, right, sorry, sorry," Kukyo said impatiently before putting his hands together. "Now then, Miss Knowledge, isn't there another business we need to take care of?"

Patchouli looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Come now, Miss Knowledge. Remember?" he said, his voice starting to grow softer, more soothing. "You said we were going to examine what's inside that book again, the one that you sealed."

Patchouli blinked. Kukyo could tell his spell was slowly working. "I...did?"

He nodded. "Mmhm. But we can't do that if you still have it sealed, now, can we?"

"Yeah..." Patchouli said, her voice steadily growing more and more dreamy. "But..."

"Don't worry about it Miss Knowledge," Kukyo said, reaching for the book and placing it on her hands. "We can handle whatever's in it, can't we?"

Patchouli stared up at him again, her eyes now clouded over, and nodded. She put her hand on the book and started to undo her seal.

* * *

Sakuya finished inspecting the areas which Kukyo was supposed to clean that morning. As expected, his work was impeccable, like it has been since he started working in the mansion. She didn't know what to expect, really, but something just felt a bit off during her conversation with him in the kitchen. Perhaps it was just because of his shift in mood from the morning. Judging from his tone, he certainly sounded better than he did this morning; whatever problems he had, it seemed that he had resolved it. Of course, that was awfully fast, especially considering how he was troubled by it for a week, but she supposed that everyone had their own methods. She should check to make sure that he put the pots and cups back in the -

Sakuya stopped mid-stride. Now that she thought about it... could that be why?

She teleported back to the kitchen, but found that he was not there, nor were the supplies he had took. Her suspicion growing, she instinctively checked in the library. There she found Kukyo, sitting opposite to Patchouli, reading a black book that seemed familiar. Patchouli had her head down, her breathing steady, as if sleeping. On the table was a tray, with a pot of tea and two cups of tea on top of it. He looked up when he noticed her. "Ah. Miss izayoi. What brings you here?" he asked, smiling, but with such a twisted and almost gleeful expression that he looked like a different person.

"Who are you?" Sakuya asked after a long pause. "You're not Mr. Sainan. He couldn't fly, and even if he did manage to learn without me knowing, he would have told me about it."

Kukyo chuckled, getting up from his seat "Well, actually I am. He's just a fake, a naive, foolish version of me." He said, wringing his hands. "Don't worry, though, I can assure you he won't be coming back anytime soon."

Sakuya regarded him coldly. "What did you do to Lady Patchouli?" she asked him

"Oh, I don't know," Kukyo said mockingly.

Sakuya didn't say anything else. The next moment, she was behind him, and countless knives appeared around him. "Tell me how to fix this. Now."

Kukyo laughed. "Hey, hey, whatever happened to the spellcard rule here?" he said.

In response, the knives all stabbed into him at once, embedding themselves into his arms and legs, and Kukyo screamed in pain.

"No one will care if I break that rule on an Outsider," Sakuya said coldly. "and I won't aim for your vital spots. I'll make sure you live to tell me what I want to know."

Kukyo's scream continued, but before long, it turned into laughter. "You know, Miss Izayoi, threats like that would only work if I was human. Besides, I _already have you where I want you."_

_Sakuya blinked, sensing the change in not only his voice but also their surroundings. The knives sticking out on his body disappeared into shadows as he continued to laugh, and the library itself started to twist and warp like a living being_

_His head rotated around his body to face her, a twisted grin on his face as he chuckled. "Welcome, Miss Izayoi, to my domain," he taunted before his figure melted into a distorted black shadow. "I hope you enjoy your stay, because you'll be here for a long, long time."_


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: ...Not much to talk about, really. Lemme just respond to some reviews.

RandomNumbers523156: Well... let me just say, read on.

hiallofyou: Yeah, she certainly did. And thank you. Never actually heard my writing described as organized before.

Animajunki1230: Well, thank you, and read on, by all means.

* * *

Chapter 13

* * *

_It was heavy._

_He felt as if he was floating in... something. He wasn't sure what exactly, only knew that whatever it was, it won't let him move. Not like he had much energy to do that in the first place. He couldn't even muster up enough to open his eyelids._

_His mind felt jumbled, foggy. His memory was steadily failing him; he knew vaguely that he was, at one point, confused, perhaps even angry, by what had happened._

_...What had happened? He thought for a moment, but found he couldn't summon up the memory he was looking for. In fact, he couldn't remember anything at all. Who was he again? What was he doing here? What was this place? Again and again, he tried to remember, but soon the effort became too great as the fatigue persisted, unrelenting, until soon, he couldn't summon enough energy to even care. He was simply tired. So tired..._

* * *

_Sakuya zipped through the air, maneuvering her way through the black shadows which shot out like spears from every inch of the now distorted library. In the center of the library was the shadow that had been Kukyo, whose form swayed and twisted sickeningly._

_"Not bad, not bad," the shadow taunted. "I suppose you don't get to be head maid around here for nothing."_

_Sakuya said nothing in response, using her power to disappear, reappearing a split second later, along with several knives which embedded themselves into the shadow. The shadow, however, didn't even flinch, and the knives slowly sank deeper and deeper into the figure until they all completely disappeared._

_"It's useless," the shadow said. "I told you, didn't I? You're in my domain, now. You can't win."_

_"We'll see," Sakuya said, continuing to dodge the black spears. She threw her knives at the shadow again, just as one of the black spears shot out right in front of her. As she dodged, she noticed her knives passed right through the spear and kept going, striking the shadow before again sinking into it, having no effect. Her eyes widened slightly as she came to a realization._

_Before she acted rashly, though, she set out to confirm her theory. When the next onslaught of black spears shot out from the ground, she stopped time once more, freezing them midair. She then gingerly touched one of the spears, only to find her fingers passing through it with no resistance at all. Finally confident, she restarted time again._

_"You know, that ability of yours is really quite annoying," the shadow said. "Let's see what you do with no room to move." So saying, the shadow waved it arms, creating an array of black spears all aimed at Sakuya, spaced just right so she could not squeeze through them even by stopping time. Sakuya, however, simply hovered there, unimpressed._

_"Your tricks won't intimidate me anymore," Sakuya said calmly. The spears were nothing but an illusion, as was everything that was happening around her, including the shadow. That was why her attacks did nothing; the real body was not there, but rather somewhere else in the room, hiding._

_Ignoring the spears, she started to throw her knives at high speed in every direction, canvassing every corner of the library with them. It had the intended effect; the illusion around her shimmered, and the shadow trembled, screaming for her to stop. The spears, though still speeding towards her, also shimmered, further confirming her theory. Any moment now this illusion will dissipate and she would be able to clearly see where -_

_Her thoughts was cut short by the searing pain that wracked through her body as the closest spear, still shimmering, hit her like a solid object and ripped through her abdomen. She barely had time to react when the other spears followed suit. The air was filled with blood in an instant. Her blood._

_Through the excruciating pain, she registered a mad, uncontrollable laughter cutting through the air. "You fell for it! I can't believe you fell for it!" the shadow said between peals of laughter._

_Through her blurring vision, she could make out the shadow reforming back into Kukyo, still giggling. "Well, looks like I won, eh?"_

_As she fell from the sky, he stretched out his right hand. "Why don't we go another round?" he said before snapping his fingers._

* * *

_Sakuya blinked. She was standing, again, somewhere near the center of the library, now back to normal. She looked down at her hands, then at her body. Everything was intact, she was unharmed. But even as the thought left her mind, she bent double, gasping for air. Even though she was fine now, she could still see the spears, ripping through her. She could recall the sensation with perfect clarity; the spears, ripping through her flesh, the warmth of her blood as it flowed freely out to the air._

_She whipped around and saw Kukyo, sitting just as he was the first time she teleported to the library, reading the exact same book, not a scratch or wound on his person. Patchouli was, again, sitting opposite to him, still appearing to be in deep sleep. Kukyo put the book down on the table and turned to face her, a gleeful look on his face._

_"How?" she asked, still trying to shake off the illusionary pain._

_"I told you," he said in a gloating tone. "What part of 'my domain' did you not understand? I could freely control whatever happened. I had simply wanted to see what would happen if I put that little bait out, and you bought it." He sighed. "Why are smart people so predict-"_

_He didn't finish the sentence, as Sakuya, despite still being shaken, had managed to gather herself together enough to use her powers and hit him square between the eyes with one of her knives. She waited a moment as blood started to flow out from Kukyo's wound, but, as before, that jarring laughter came again._

_"Good, good. I figured a small death like that won't keep you down," Kukyo said even with the knife still in between his eyes. "Well then, let's move on to round two, shall we?"_

_The library started to twist again, and Kukyo's form deformed back into the shadow. "Let's see... how about we get a little up-close and personal this time?" he said before the shadow deformed even more, splitting off and forming grotesque, misshapen wolves that snarled at her._

_Sakuya's eyes widened and she desperately took to the air._

* * *

_What was this warmth?_

_He was just about to slip, let everything go, when he felt that warmth, travelling first from his hands, through his entire body. It was faint but gentle, and familiar... He felt his strength returning, and his mind clearing._

_He opened his eyes._

_"What...happened?" he said, shaking his head, looking around at the pitch black abyss where he seemed to be floating. It took him a second for the memory to rush back; his reflection taunting him, his strength ebbing away, his body sinking into that smooth darkness. Wasn't he disappearing? Why was he still there?_

_He tried to look down towards the source of the warmth, and was surprised to see a gentle glow illuminating the darkness from his hands. He lifted them up to his face and saw that the glow came from what was left of the runes. There were barely any outline left on his gloves, yet the glow persisted stubbornly, as if unwilling to let him sink fully into the darkness. The heaviness was still there, waiting to pounce on him, but this time he found he was able to ward it off._

_He stared at the runes again as he thought of his mentor, at all the times she had protected and reassured him those eight years. Even now she seemed to reassure him through these runes that were her final gift. Even though he was a fake._

_Shouldn't that mean something?_

_A yell came from above him, and he recognized the voice; it was Sakuya's. With a great effort, he propelled himself up in the darkness until light started to filter through and his hands touched a smooth, cold surface. Above him he saw a twisted version of the library, a shadow that he could tell was his reflection, and, most importantly, Sakuya, kneeling, breathing hard, stanching a wound on her arm._

_"Shall we make this the fifth death, then?" he heard his reflection say gleefully as Sakuya grimaced._

_His eyes widened and he banged at the smooth surface, trying to get himself to the other side. "Come on, let me out!" he yelled. Neither Sakuya nor his reflection noticed his efforts._

_His reflection drew closer to Sakuya, one of her knives in his hand. "Let's see how you like being stabbed with one of these," it said gleefully._

_"No!" He yelled, unable to do anything else but watch as the knife swung down and a strangled scream escaped Sakuya's throat. He was about to sink back into the darkness when the scene reset itself in the blink of an eye. Sakuya, now unhurt, dropped to her knees as his reflection laughed._

_He pressed himself against the surface, willing it to budge, his mind past the point of anger. He remembered the advice Sakuya had given him earlier, the tea and breakfast she made him sit down to eat. He didn't care anymore whether he was a fake, or whether or not the past eight years were even real. He knew the past month was real, the time he spent in Gensokyo was real, and he wasn't just going to stay there while his reflection-real self- whatever it was torture Sakuya like that._

_He declared a spellcard as he wound himself up to punch at the surface again, not caring whether it worked or not._

"Fool's Sign 'Magician's White Glove'!"

* * *

_Sakuya stayed on her knees, finding it nearly impossible to move. She couldn't take much more. She had tried everything, from fighting back to fleeing, but to no avail. The shadow got her every time._

_"Aww, come on, don't tell me you're done already," the shadow said, lifting his right hand, making her cringe. "Let's go a-"_

_His sentence was again cut off, this time by a loud blast that shook the entire library._

_"W-what?" the shadow stammered. "How could this be happening?"_

_Another loud blast shook the area, and this time Sakuya could see cracks forming on the library walls, as well as hear a faint voice._

_"Once... more..."_

_"Stop!" the shadow yelled, just as a third blast completely shattered the entire library to pieces and something burst out from the floor along with a shower of darkness. As the darkness settled, that something turned out to be a figure; another Kukyo, breathing heavily, looking in Sakuya's direction with a pained and remorseful look on his face. She recognized him instantly as the Kukyo she had known._

_"Thank... goodness," he panted. "I was able to... get out."_

_"You!? Impossible! How are you still whole!?" the shadow shrieked._

_Kukyo scowled at the shadow before turning to Sakuya and snapping his fingers. Sakuya blinked, surprised as her body grew fainter and fainter._

_"I'm getting you out of this illusion, Miss Izayoi," Kukyo said. "I'll deal with things here. Please deal with my body outside." He said, snapping once more, making her disappear completely from._

_He then turned to his reflection, who sneered at him. "You really think you can beat me here, you fake? This is my mind. It's under my control.I don't even need to do anything, it will destroy you for me." he said before disappearing._

_The black surface beneath Kukyo started to rumble, and he had just enough time to create a platform with his cards and jump on it as black spears erupted from under the surface. He frowned. It didn't look like he could win this one, but as long as he dragged things out, his reflection would not be able to pull Sakuya back here._

_He jumped again as another onslaught of spears aimed at him from below._

* * *

Sakuya came to and found herself laying on the library floor. As she picked herself up, she noticed a black card attaching itself to her shoulder. Was that how the other Kukyo managed to put her under his illusion? When did he have the chance to do that? She peeled the card off and looked up to see Kukyo floating there, gripping his face, grimacing. From his expression, she could tell the one still in control was the shadow.

"Damn!" he said, mumbling to himself. "Persistent little - stop messing with my power, you fake." he then noticed Sakuya and he clicked his tongue. "So annoying. Why won't you all just drop dead already!" he yelled, throwing black cards in her direction, nowhere near as fast or as intimidating as the projectiles he had thrown at her in his illusion. Sakuya dodged them without even breaking a sweat.

"Allow me to pay you back for all those 'deaths' you gave me," Sakuya said, taking out her spellcard.

_"Illusion Image 'Luna Clock'!"_


	14. Chapter 14

First off, sorry for the delay, had some personal matters to sort out.

Gray Shadow: Well, thanks for asking. For the record, in japanese, Kukyo meant "emptiness" and Sainan meant "catastrophe," though I might have made some errors in translation.

hiallofyou: We'll see, won't we?

* * *

Chapter 14

* * *

For the Nightmare, things had taken a turn to the absolute worst. That infuriated him to no end, especially because of how tantalizingly close he had come.

Everything was perfect. He had succeeded in retrieving his powers back from the book and trapped the nuisances inside nigh unbreakable illusions. All that he had left was to shed this cumbersome human body for his natural one; he was nearly there, too, when his fake bursted out of the darkness and set the maid free.

He scowled again as he desperately batted away the knives aimed at him with the pitiful cards that this body was restricted to using. He needed to stay calm. Stay calm. Regardless of the hindrance now before him, it was still only a matter of time before he consolidated control and regain his true form. After that, it would only be a trifling matter to wipe any traces of the fake off of his mind and put the maid in another illusion. All he needed was time.

As such, he focused and materialized dozens of cards around him and proceeded to spin them at high speeds, creating a barrier which deflected the knives aimed at him. He laughed as he looked down at Sakuya.

"Well?" he said, "Your knife tricks won't matter now; you can't reach me in here." he laughed again, though he failed to contain the hint of nervousness in his voice.

Sakuya looked at him, unimpressed. "...Is that it?" she asked.

"What?"

"Is that all you're going to do, now that your illusions are gone?" she asked again with a serious tone.

Again, he laughed nervously. "What do you mean? This is all I need to do! You can't touch me anymore. All I need to do is wait," he said, his voice shaking.

Sakuya shook her head derisively. "After all your talk, is that all you're going to do?" she said with a cold tone. "Pathetic."

He blinked, bewildered, before laughing again, more nervous than before. "Call me that all you want, you still won't get past my cards. Soon enough that pest in my mind will be gone, and then I'll let you taste death once more."

"If that's what you think, then you're sorely overestimating your abilities," she said, taking out a knife and spinning it in her hands. "Getting past something like this is child's play for me."

He was about to rebuke her when he felt something warm trickling down his left cheek and noticed the edge of her knife was now red. He lifted his hand and winced when his gloved fingers touched the fresh wound on his cheek.

Sakuya continued to spin the bloodied knife with an indifferent expression. "See?"

* * *

_Kukyo desperately dodged around as the black surface under him continued to erupt, always trying to keep one step ahead of the onslaught. It was a taxing endeavor; even though he could not get tired physically, his concentration was still stretched to the limit as he always found himself unable to do anything else but jump and create small platforms on which to land with his cards, platforms that were instantly obliterated by the black spears from below._

_He jumped again, only to find his landing spot already filled with spears pointed up at the sky, ready to impale him. He gritted his teeth and somersaulted in mid-air, throwing his cards at the spears, diffusing them just long enough for him to create another platform to land on. Before he had time to catch his breath though, the platform shifted, throwing him off balance just as he saw another onslaught coming his way. Unable to dodge, he materialized a cloud of cards that managed to deflect most of the spears, though several managed to graze his arms and thigh._

_As he was bracing himself for the next wave, the black surface shuddered unexpectedly, and the attacks stopped. He stood there, confused, when he felt the warm trickle from his cheek and felt the wound that had appeared on it. For a moment, he was baffled; he couldn't remember any of the attacks coming close to his face. As he worried about it, the surface shook even harder, and this time he felt a stabbing pain in his left shoulder as a trail of blood started to run down his sleeve. For a moment, he thought it was the nightmare's doing. But as he looked around, he realized that the entire space was shuddering as if in pain as well. It took him a moment to connect the dots and he chuckled to himself. At least he knew for certain now that Sakuya's doing alright on her end._

_He refocused as the black spears began to shoot out again, more erratic than before. The nightmare was getting desperate. Sakuya was definitely more than enough to deal with it. All he needs to do now is to continue to buy time on this end._

_As his shoulder continued to throb, though, he couldn't help but grin as he imagined what sort of hell the nightmare must be going through right now._

* * *

The nightmare screamed, clutching the knife embedded to his shoulder, staggering mid-air. Sakuya looked at him through his spinning barrier of cards with her usual steely gaze, twirling another knife in her hand.

"No way," he gasped, "How? I added more cards... How could you have possibly..."

"That's a silly question." she answered, flicking her hand, sending another knife past his barrier to graze his arm, causing him to exclaim again in pain. "I can stop time at will. To me, those cards might as well not be there."

He scowled, sending a desperate volley at Sakuya's direction, only to have her disappear. "No fair!" he yelled. "How am I supposed to fight against something like that?"

"Fair? Whoever said it is fair? If you wanted a fair fight, you should have challenged me to a spellcard battle instead," Sakuya said, appearing again as several cut wounds appeared all over his body, causing him to scream with pain again. "Without your illusions, you have no chance to beat me. The only reason you're still breathing right now is because the real Mr. Sainan still needs that body."

"The... real... Mr. Sainan?" The nightmare said. "I told you, I'm the real Kukyo. He's the fake!"

Sakuya laughed derisively. "Even if that's true, you don't hold a candle compared to him," she said.

"You're wrong! I'm a nightmare! A ruler of dreams! He's just a stupid boy believing himself to be human!" He yelled, his voice growing louder and louder. He threw his cards at her in a more erratic fashion.

"And what's wrong with being human?" Sakuya said, dodging the cards with ease. "In the month he's been here, he always tried his hardest, and he never complained. Seeing someone like you twist his face into such an expression makes me sick."

"It's my face! I can do whatever I want with it!" the nightmare practically screamed now, blindly throwing his attacks, not even attempting to hit Sakuya now.

"You're just like a child throwing a tantrum now," Sakuya said contemptedly. "Why don't you stop wasting all of our time and return that body back to Mr. Sainan."

"Shut up!" the Nightmare roared, throwing more and more cards to the air in a frenzy. His yells only grew louder and louder as Sakuya continued to effortlessly dodge his increasingly desperate attacks.

_Kukyo was close to his limit. The strain of constantly having to dodge, coupled with the injuries he 'received' from Sakuya's attacks from the outside, had taken its toll. Not only that, he also found that the space he could dodge to had also started to gradually decrease as the darkness seemed to be swallowing up more and more of the space. Even the air seemed to gradually grow darker and darker, as if the nightmare was gradually taking more and more control of his mind. Soon, everything would turn pitch black, and he would again be assaulted by that heaviness, and the Nightmare would finally have his way._

_That thought, perhaps, was even worse than the pain._

_So, as the space around him continued to grow smaller and smaller, he took a deep breath and let himself fall into the darkness once again. He ignored the pain, and simply concentrated._

"A drop, Kukyo, that's all you need," _he remembered his mentor say. _"Use it as a catalyst."

_Despite what he was about to do, he smiled, knowing that this time, he would be using more than just a drop._

"Fool's Sign..." _he breathed, focusing all of his remaining energy, all of his being, into this one last spell. _"...'Metamorphosis.'"

_It started as a single card which left his hand. As it touched the darkness, more and more cards manifested. In a short time, the darkness around him were all turned to cards, and for a moment, he let himself float there, until he was sure that everything had turned into cards._

_Finally, he snapped his fingers._

* * *

The Nightmare stopped.

Sakuya paused, the knives she was about to throw still in her hand, cautiously eyeing him. Until just a moment ago, the Nightmare had been yelling and frantically throwing his cards everywhere. But now, he simply floated there, his expression blank, as if shocked.

"No way... that... fool...he really..." he said, his voice barely more than a strangled whisper. He reached out weakly. "I...don't... want to..."

His body then went limp, and he dropped from the air.

He did not get back up.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

* * *

One week after the incident, inside her library, Patchouli was, as usual, sitting in the center, with stacks of books around her, one already in her hand. As she was about to pick up another book, though, she heard the library doors open.

"What is it, Remi?" she asked, and sure enough, the blue-haired vampire flew into view, a smile on her face.

"I was just wondering what you're up to Patchy," she said as she made her way to the table, sitting down as she picked up one of the books from the pile. "Hmm, dream magic, eh? Never knew you were researching that."

She nodded her head, picking up another one of the books and flipping through it. "I was not particularly interested in the field, really, before a week ago."

"Right," Remilia said, putting the book back down. "If I recall correctly, Sakuya said the boy still hasn't woken up, right?"

"Considering what had happened, I'm not surprised," Patchouli replied, before considering a moment as she closed her own book. "I am curious, Remi; how much of this did you know was going to happen?"

Remilia chuckled. "Oh come on, Patchy, I was bored, sure, but not _that_ bored," she answered, leaning back on her chair. "I knew the boy was hiding something, sure, but not to that extent."

"Alright," Patchouli said with a sigh. "...In any case, there's nothing for it except wait for him to come to, I suppose. _If_ he comes to, which at this point seems unlikely."

At that moment, Sakuya appeared with a tray loaded with tea and sweets, as if expecting that they would have started to ask for them..

"Ah, thank you,Sakuya," Remilia said approvingly as she and Patchouli started to help themselves. She turned back to Patchouli. "Now _you_ have me curious, Patchy; why do you think that?"

"Well, even though his body's stable now, his mind is still very fragmented," Patchouli said simply. "And even then, there's no guarantee that _he_ would be the one that wakes up."

"I see," Remilia said, nodding, seemingly amused by this reply before turning to Sakuya. "Well, what do you think, Sakuya?"

"If I may be frank, Mistress, I do share some of Lady Patchouli's concerns," Sakuya said.

"Is that so?" Remilia said before smiling and chuckling to herself.

"What is it, Mistress?" Sakuya asked.

"Nothing. I just find it quite amusing," Remilia remarked, "You know, this situation reminded me of that time, when we first met. You still remember that, Sakuya?"

Sakuya nodded, her face composed, but faint spots of color appearing on her cheeks. "How could I not, Mistress. But I don't see how that situation relates to this one."

"It doesn't, really. The circumstances are way too different," Remilia continued, "Just that, the fate that I saw with you that time was much, much worse than the boy's, and look at you now, Sakuya. I'm rather curious to see how he'll do." she picked up her tea and started to stir it.

"Of course, he has to wake up first."

* * *

_Kukyo had lost all his senses the instant he released the energy from his cards. The flash blinded him; the sharp sound left a constant, hollow ringing in his ears, and whatever pain he had felt seemed to disappear. For a moment, he was reminded of the feeling he had while under the darkness, but this time, there was no heaviness, either on his body or his mind; instead, he felt light, so light he thought he would simply disappear at the slightest breeze. He wondered, briefly, whether or not this was what death was like._

_After a while, though, that feeling of lightness disappeared, and as his feelings gradually returned to him, he found himself sitting in a lone park bench, in the middle of the night, a solitary lamp-post illuminating a small circle around him. He blinked, confused._

"_Whew. That took longer than I thought," a familiar voice said from beside him. Kukyo's eyes widened, and he turned quickly to the voice. What greeted him was a face that he thought he would never see again._

"_What's with that look?" his mentor said, noticing his stare. "I have something on my face?"_

"_No - I - how are you..." he stammered, before it clicked in his mind and he leaned back on the bench. "Right. I'm dead. I shouldn't be so surprised, should I?"_

_His mentor raised an eyebrow. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about, Kukyo? If you're dead, you'd be halfway across the Sanzu River by now," she said, completely shattering his theory._

"_What? I don't understand then. If I'm still alive, where is this? How are you here?" he asked._

"_Well... let's see..." she said, "well, this is your mind. What's left of it anyway; you did quite a number to it, I'll tell you that much. As for how I'm here... well... hmm..." she rubbed her chin, considering how to answer._

"_Don't tell me; you're actually still alive too?" Kukyo said, surprised with himself that he could hear some bitterness in his voice as he said that._

_His mentor picked up on that as well, and she chuckled. " I'm one-hundred-percent dead. You don't have to worry about seeing me again."_

_Kukyo bit his lip. "That's not what I meant. It's just-"_

"_-I know," she said, stopping him. "Don't worry, Kukyo, I understand how you must feel. If I have the time, I would explain fully, but, as things are right now, I don't think I'll last much longer."_

_Kukyo was about to ask her what she meant when he saw her form shimmer as if it was about to disappear before solidifying again, and he felt a gentle, familiar, heat coming from his palms._

_It was then that he understood._

"_It can't be... the seals?" he said wordlessly._

_His mentor chuckled. "Mmhm. You guessed it. I put a bit of myself in your seals, back then. Otherwise, it would have been useless."_

"_So then... why didn't you show yourself? Why didn't you..." Kukyo trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence. But again, his mentor knew what he meant._

"_Simple fact was, I couldn't. The small remnant of myself in the seals could barely keep them active, and after it was broken, I had even less power than before." She leaned back on the bench, as if exhausted. "It was all I could do to give you that little push."_

_Kukyo looked down at his hands and rubbed his palms again, looking at the runes on them, remembering the warmth that had snapped him to in the darkness. "...then how come you're here now?" he asked slowly._

"_Because you've blasted your mind to smithereen?" she answered simply. "Your mind was so fragmented, it took me awhile to actually reach 'you' through the scraps. Took practically the last of my energy just to get you." At that moment, as if to reinforce her point, her body again shimmered, becoming transparent for a much longer time before becoming solid again. "Ah, wow, I really don't have much time left."_

_Kukyo continued to look down. He was confused; his feelings were too jumbled, he didn't know what to say. Again, everything was going too fast, and he didn't know how to react. He wanted to at least face his mentor, but what would he say to her now? _

_At that moment, though, he felt a sudden warmth as his mentor put her arms around him in a motherly gesture."Kukyo, look at me, will you."_

_He obliged. She was smiling, but with that sad glint in her eyes which he recognized too well. Her body was now semi-transparent, and fading fast. "I'm sorry. What I have done to you... If only I have the time to explain..." she shook her head, as if to snap herself out of it. "Kukyo, just know this. No matter what the Nightmare said, those eight years were real. For me, they're real. and you're real. You're Kukyo Sainan, my best and only apprentice." There were tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she continued. "So... be happy alright, Kukyo?"_

"_I-" he started to say, before she suddenly pushed him with surprising force, so that he was thrown back, away from the bench and the ring of light and her fading figure. He exclaimed out loud, reaching out to her. She still wore that smile on her face, and waved, mouthing out one last word, clear enough for him to recognize._

"_Goodbye."_

* * *

Kukyo's eyes snapped open and he bolted up, quickly wincing as his body protested from the effort. Greatly disoriented, he tried to take stock of his surroundings, and quickly recognized his room in the mansion. Furthermore, his entire body was covered in bandages. Despite the pain, he quickly brought his hands up, trying to make out any signs of the runes.

His hands, however, were bare.

He stared at them for a long while, as if half expecting the runes to show up again. But they never did. Finally, he put his hands down, and slowly eased himself out of the bed.

* * *

The reaction that he received when he walked into the library was varied, to say the least. Remilia had an amused, almost smug expression on her face, Patchouli couldn't help but show surprise by nearly dropping her tea cup, and Sakuya immediately trained a knife at his throat with a serious expression on her face.

"U-um, Miss Izayoi," he croaked nervously. "I-it's me this time. Honest."

Sakuya maintained her eye contact for a long moment before Patchouli came over and examined him with several of her spells.

"Well, it seems you're telling the truth. Welcome back, Mr. Sainan," Patchouli said after a while, giving Sakuya the assurance to lower her knife.

"Sorry, Mr. Sainan, but given the circumstances..."

"No, no, I understand." Kukyo said quickly, bowing as deep as the bandages would allow him. "I should be the one apologizing. Rest assured, I'll leave as soon as I recover and-"

"Now hold on a minute, boy," Remilia said, cutting him off. "Whoever said you could leave? I hope you haven't forgotten our bet." she flexed her hand. "Do you think you can beat me with your state?"

Kukyo blinked. "What? I - no, but, I mean, after what I did, I thought... And I mean, the Nightmare is still in here, somewhere, so..."

"Right, about that," Patchouli said, moving back to her books. "I would actually like to examine you closer. Since you're the first real instance of a Nightmare I've encountered, it would be a good opportunity to fill in some of the data from these grimoires."

Kukyo opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to form a reply. Finally he was able to croak out, "... can I really stay?"

Remilia sighed. "Boy, don't make me repeat myself," she said with a tired tone before smiling. "Well, Mr. Sainan?" she said, extending her hand.

Kukyo looked at the extended hand, then back at the three. His mentor's smile flashed back in his memory.

_be happy, alright, Kukyo?_

He could barely keep his voice from shaking as he smiled and bowed. "As you wish, Mistress Scarlet."

* * *

A/N:Whew. There we go. This was way harder to write than I thought, so hopefully this turned out alright.

Anyway, this marks the end of the first arc. I'll be taking a short break to take stock and go over the plans for the next arc, so, yeah. At the latest, the next chapter would be out in two weeks.

Also, any comments, questions, concerns, please feel free to post it. I'll do my best to address them in the next update.


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

Kukyo opened his eyes at the first light of dawn. He sat up and carefully stretched his arms. It has been several weeks since he had taken off the bandages, and now, even the stiffness in them had mostly disappeared. Satisfied, he hopped out of bed, got dressed, and went out, humming to himself as he started his morning duties. A few hours later, he finally stopped by the kitchen and helped himself to a light breakfast as he took a break.

After Remilia had told him to stay, things more or less fell back into their usual pace. At first, it was tough for him to return to his regular duties, given the extent of his injuries. As those injuries healed, though, it wasn't hard for him to find his footing again. He still had a long way to go, of course; he still has trouble trying to maintain more than half the mansion, and despite his best efforts, Remilia still rated his tea as "mediocre at best." Still, he knew that he could only improve with time.

He sighed contentedly as he finished the last of his toast. It would still be a while before he would have to help Sakuya with lunch, so he leisurely poured himself another cup of tea and leaned on the counter. It was hard to believe that only a few months ago, he was living in the streets, barely scraping enough to eat. He wondered idly what month it would be in the Outside World. He counted it off with his fingers. He had entered Gensokyo early Spring, so today would be...

His eyes widened as realization dawned on him. He quickly gulped down the last of his tea and rushed off to try and find Sakuya. "Miss Izayoi," he shouted hurriedly. He had not gone two steps out of the kitchen before Sakuya's voice answered from behind him.

"What's the matter, Mr. Sainan?"

"Ah, Miss Izayoi," he said, turning around quickly, pausing for a moment before bowing, "Sorry, but, could I possibly have the day off today?"

Sakuya raised an eyebrow. "That's a bit sudden. Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "No, nothing like that. It's just that - well, I just remembered that today's sort of a special day. And I know it's sudden, but..." he clapped his hands together. "Please, Miss Izayoi? I'll make it up to you later."

Sakuya studied his expression for a moment before sighing. "Very well," she answered, "But do try not to injure yourself this time. Our medical supplies are running quite low."

Kukyo refrained from pointing out that _she_ was the one that poked him full of holes before. Instead, he grinned. "Thanks Miss Izayoi. I'll be back around sunset." he said, before rushing back to his room to pick up what he needed before leaving the mansion. He would have to hurry if he wanted to finish before sunset.

"Let's see..." he mumbled to himself as he made his way to the human village. "I'll need to pick up some flowers first."

* * *

"Thank you very much ma'am," Kukyo said to the storekeeper as he paid for the flowers. "Keep the change."

Kukyo inspected the bundle he had bought as he walked out of the store. Did he buy a bit too much? Perhaps, seeing how difficult it was to carry with one hand. Even though he still had plenty of mons left over, getting this much might have been a tad excessive.

"Mr. Sainan?" someone called out from behind him. He turned to see Akyuu, emerging from a bookstore. She looked genuinely surprised to see him.

He smiled. "Hello Miss Hieda. It's been a while." he greeted cheerfully.

"Indeed," Akyuu said. "How long has it been? A few months?"

"Just about."

"So, how did it go? Did you find what you were looking for in the Scarlet Devil Mansion?" Akyuu asked him.

Kukyo rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Ah... yes, I suppose I did, in a way," he answered. "I must thank you again for showing me those Chronicles. You have no idea how much they helped."

"No need to thank me. That was why they were there in the first place." She said.

Kukyo considered for a moment before asking, "Say, Miss Hieda, would you happen to know a good spot around here to watch the sunset?"

"Watch the sunset?" Akyuu said, eyeing the bundle of flowers he held in his hands. "Ah. Would that have anything to do with those flowers?"

Kukyo smiled. "Yes. I sort of nearly forgot that today was an important day, so right now I'm scrambling to get something prepared."

"Hmm... I see..." Akyuu said. "Well, I think I might know of a place. I've heard that this hill a bit west of the village that should work."

"Really?Thank you, Miss Hieda. You have no idea how much you helped me out with that." Kukyo said ecstatically.

"Don't mention it," Akyuu replied. "In exchange, I hope you wouldn't mind if I also ask a favor of my own."

"Sure. Just name it."

"Well then, I hope you wouldn't mind if I add you to the Chronicles?"

Kukyo considered for a moment before smiling and nodding. "I would be honored," he said.

* * *

Kukyo looked out at the setting sun in awe. He had found the hill Akyuu was talking about without too much trouble, and she was right; the view from the hill as the last of the sun's rays filter past the the distant mountain was breathtaking.

Kukyo sighed, kicking himself mentally. With all that had happened, he had nearly forgotten what an important day it was today. Luckily, he managed to get what he needed on time. Well, at least he remembered on time.

After all, today marked the ninth year since he and his mentor had 'met.' There was no way he would simply just let it pass.

He closed his eyes, thinking back on what his mentor had done this very day, eight years ago. She had surprised him with a cake; not a small one either, but one of the large, expensive ones, the kind that would have taken her weeks of performances to save up for. At that time, he was dumbfounded. He didn't have anything remotely equivalent to give her in exchange. He could hear his mentor's laughing voice now as he had told her that.

"_Don't worry about it, Kukyo,"_ she had assured him.

"_But- but- " _his younger self had protested, on the verge of tears, _"I can't just take this when I don't have something for you too. It's not fair."_

His mentor had chuckled. _"Well, in that case, how about we do this? I'll give you this cake, but only after you give me the best performance you can give? That should be fair, right?" _she had suggested, and when he nodded vigorously, she had laughed.

"_Alright then, Kukyo. Show me what you've got. Dazzle me,"_ she had said to him. That was how they started their own tradition. Every year since, she would always get him some gift, and in return he would always give her the absolute best performance he could manage at the time.

Now, as he continued to close his eyes, the world seemed to melt away, and he could see his mentor in front of him, an expectant look on her face as her familiar question echoed in his mind.

"_Dazzle me, Kukyo."_

He smiled softly. "Alright," he whispered, clapping his hands together and spreading them apart, creating a deck of cards appear to match his movement. He took one more deep breath.

Then he started his performance.

This performance was nothing like the ones he used to give to the crowds back in the Outside World. Those had all been carefully calculated, with just enough magic to give people a sense of wonder but never enough to offend their common sense. Now, with only the image of his mentor as his audience, he didn't have to worry about that. So he gave his all to the performance. His cards danced in the air, appearing here, disappearing there. Every time he clapped his hand they would move with a will of their own. He didn't think about it; he didn't have time to think. He was simply enjoying the performance. Finally, with one final flourish, he snapped his fingers, and whatever cards that were left in the air exploded like fireworks, raining twinkling confetti in the air for a moment before they all vanished.

He stood there, breathing hard from the effort. In his mind's eye, his mentor still stood there, a smile on her face. His mouth opened and closed several times, trying to find the right words to say. Even though he knew that this time, she was only his imagination, he couldn't let her go again without saying something, not this time. Finally, though he found them; something to say other than goodbye.

"Thank you," he said, his voice clear and unwavering. In his mind's eye, he could see the smile on his mentor's face widen.

Then he opened his eyes again, and the world returned.

He stood there, in the rapidly fading light, a bittersweet taste in his mouth. It took him a few moments to realize that he was still holding on to the flowers. Concentrating for one last spell, he held the flowers out and let them go, making them burst into a flock of doves, and he watched them fly out in the direction of the mountain for a long moment, watching as they vanish back into air one by one.

When the last of the sun's rays vanished alongside the doves, he turned and walked away, heading back home.

* * *

**Ending notes:**

So, yeah. A bit of an explanation's in order.

First of all, after reviewing everything, I decided that the second arc would be better suited to be a sequel, given the plans I had for it. So I thought that this epilogue is now necessary to wrap up. The sequel is in the works; I will start publishing it by the end of the month.

With that said, thank you all for reading.


End file.
